Job Description
At Rhoda AI, we're building the full-stack foundation for the next generation of humanoid robots — from high-performance, software-defined hardware to the foundational models and video world models that control it. Our robots are designed to be generalists capable of operating in complex, real-world environments and handling scenarios unseen in training. We work at the intersection of large-scale learning, robotics, and systems, with a research team that includes researchers from Stanford, Berkeley, Harvard, and beyond. We're not building a feature; we're building a new computing platform for physical work — and with over $400M raised, we're investing aggressively in the R&D, hardware development, and manufacturing scale-up to make that a reality.
This is a Staff position reporting directly to the Head of Safety and Certification. We're looking for a technical executor with a bias for action, impeccable rigor, and the ability to drive cross-disciplinary teams. The candidate must demonstrate deep technical credibility and the appetite to grow into a leadership position as the safety organization scales.
What You'll Do
Perform Hazard Analysis and Risk Assessment of humanoid robots across specific customer applications
Develop Functional Safety Concepts, Functional Safety Requirements, and Technical Safety Requirements
Perform system-level analyses to derive requirements related to stopping distances, perception, and timing/spatial/force constraints
Derive requirements for fail-safe and fail-operational behaviors, degraded states, and human-robot interactions
Develop test cases for verification and validation
Define, engineer, deploy, and employ system safety validation equipment at HIL, SIL, and system level
What We're Looking For
B.S. in Electrical Engineering
Certified Functional Safety Engineer in IEC 61508 or ISO 26262
Experience designing safety systems for complex electromechanical products with significant safety aspects
Experience in optics, machine vision, and computer vision
Evidence of hands-on engineering work — test benches, measurement, and root-cause analysis, not just documentation
Hands-on experience in verification and validation of safety requirements using HIL and SIL
Nice to Have (But Not Required)
Experience in humanoid robots, automotive, or autonomous mobile robots (AMR)
Certified Functional Safety Engineer in Machinery Safety
Experience designing and deploying industrial automation and safety systems
Certified SOTIF ISO 21448 engineer
Experience in automotive ADAS collision avoidance
Experience with laser sensors, LiDAR, and time-of-flight cameras
Hands-on experience performing FMEDA per IEC 61508 or ISO 26262
In-depth understanding of safety-critical architectures for compute, networking, and power distribution
Why This Role
Define the safety foundation for a humanoid robot operating in real-world human environments — work that is technically deep, consequential, and genuinely unsolved at this scale
Report directly to the Head of Safety and Certification with a clear path to grow into a leadership role as the safety organization scales alongside the company
Work at the intersection of functional safety, AI-driven control, and novel electromechanical systems — a combination that doesn't exist anywhere els