Robotics Quality Lead in Pasadena, California at Miso

MISO develops technology that elevates human lives in the commercial kitchen.

We’re engineering production-ready robotic systems that tightly integrate perception, real-time decision making, and electromechanical controls to automate the most dangerous, least desirable tasks in food preparation. That means building software that understands the physical world as it actually behaves, and hardware that can execute precisely in the face of chaos. Success is measured in uptime, throughput, and trust from our customers, not demos.

Our flagship platform, Flippy, is already operating in high-volume restaurant kitchens across seven states. Zippy, our Kitchen Intelligence software centralizes all operational data in our broader ecosystem, expanding the role of AI enabled autonomy in real-world operations. Backed by industry leaders, including Ecolab (NYSE: ECL), Miso combines the stability of a proven commercial product with the technical depth and ambition of a company passionately innovating to solve foundational problems in robotics and restaurant operations.

If you’re excited by hard constraints, real customers, and the challenge of making software and machines perform reliably where failure isn’t an option, you’ll find meaningful problems to work on here.

Miso Robotics is building intelligent kitchen robots that operate in real-world restaurant environments every day. We are looking for a Robotics Quality Lead to drive the quality, reliability, and performance of our Flippy robotic systems and next-generation kitchen automation products.

This is a hands-on technical leadership role covering hardware, software, motion control, computer vision, and system integration. You will lead testing strategies, develop automated tests, investigate complex failures, and help deliver reliable, production-ready robotic systems.

We want a forward-thinking engineer who brings thought leadership to quality engineering, challenges traditional testing methods, and uses modern AI tools to improve test planning, automation, failure analysis, and engineering productivity. You will work directly with physical robots in our Pasadena lab, collaborating with mechanical, electrical, software, controls, and AI/ML engineers.

• Lead testing and validation of robotic hardware, software, firmware, motion control, sensors, and system integrations.
• Develop test plans covering functionality, reliability, safety, performance, and real-world operating conditions.
• Perform hands-on testing, debugging, calibration, and troubleshooting of robotic arms, motors, sensors, and controllers.
• Validate robot motion, positioning accuracy, repeatability, collision avoidance, and fault recovery.
• Design and execute integration, regression, stress, endurance, and reliability tests.
• Investigate hardware and software failures, identify root causes, and work with engineering teams to resolve issues.
• Test robots under challenging restaurant conditions, including heat, grease, vibration, and high-duty-cycle operation.
• Support prototype validation, product releases, field deployments, and customer issue resolution.

• Champion modern AI tools and agents to improve how robotics testing is planned, developed, executed, and analyzed.
• Use Claude, GitHub Copilot, Cursor, and similar tools to accelerate test development, debugging, documentation, and analysis.
• Apply AI-powered testing tools to generate test cases, identify edge cases, expand coverage, and reduce manual work.
• Build automated test frameworks using Python and modern testing tools.
• Use AI to analyze telemetry, system logs, test results, and failure patterns.
• Develop automated hardware-in-the-loop (HIL), simulation, and physical robot regression tests.
• Integrate automated tests into CI/CD pipelines to catch defects earlier.
• Evaluate new AI technologies and testing methods to improve speed, coverage, and quality.

• Provide thought leadership in robotics quality, test automation, reliability, and AI-assisted engineering.
• Define testing strategies, quality standards, and release readiness criteria.
• Identify product risks early and influence engineering designs to improve reliability and testability.
• Establish quality metrics and dashboards for defect trends, test coverage, reliability, and release quality.
• Use data and AI-assisted analysis to prioritize testing and recommend improvements.
• Work with engineering leadership to balance development speed with product quality.
• Mentor engineers in testing, automation, debugging, and effective use of AI tools.
• Promote engineering ownership, continuous improvement, and practical problem-solving.
• Clearly communicate quality risks, technical findings, and recommendations to engineering teams and leadership.

• 3+ years of hands-on professional experience testing both hardware and software in robotic systems. Robotics testing is required.
• Hands-on work with physical robots, including robotic arms, motors, sensors, controllers, or electromechanical systems.
• Strong skills in hardware/software integration testing, debugging, and root-cause analysis.
• Understanding of functional, integration, regression, system, and reliability testing.
• Python, C++, or similar programming skills for test automation and debugging.
• Proficiency with modern AI coding assistants, AI-powered testing tools, or intelligent automation.
• Ability to independently plan tests, analyze results, and drive issues to resolution.
• Strong analytical, troubleshooting, and problem-solving skills across hardware and software.
• Technical leadership, initiative, and ability to influence engineering practices.
• Excellent written and verbal English communication skills are required.
• BS in Robotics, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• Must be physically located in the Pasadena, CA area and work on-site five days per week. No remote or hybrid work.
• Must be authorized to work in the U.S. without employer visa sponsorship, now or in the future. No H-1B sponsorship is available.

• Commercial robotic products deployed in real-world environments.
• Multi-axis robotic arms, motion control, kinematics, and robot safety systems.
• ROS/ROS 2, Gazebo, NVIDIA Isaac Sim, or similar robotics tools.
• Python, PyTest, and automated testing frameworks.
• Hardware-in-the-loop testing, test fixtures, and automated test equipment.
• Computer vision, perception, AI/ML, and sensor integration.
• CI/CD tools such as GitHub Actions or Jenkins.
• AI-driven testing platforms such as TestSigma.
• Robotics safety standards and industrial automation practices.
• Telemetry analysis, data visualization, and performance monitoring.
• Reliability engineering, failure analysis, and endurance testing.
• Leading technical initiatives and mentoring engineers.

You will help Miso deliver more reliable robots by catching problems earlier, reducing field failures, and improving release quality. Through automation, AI-driven analysis, and practical engineering leadership, you will make testing faster, more repeatable, and more effective while helping the team continuously improve how robotic systems are built and validated.

Compensation
$120,000–$150,000 per year + Benefits

The stated compensation range reflects the targeted base salary range for candidates residing in the Los Angeles Metro area and does not include additional compensation or benefits. If your salary requirements fall outside this range, we still encourage you to apply.