Principal Hardware Robotics Engineer, Data Centers

Principal Hardware Robotics Engineer, Data Centers

Location: Sunnyvale, CA, USA

Level: Director+

US Salary: $275,000 - $382,000 (USD) + 30% bonus target + equity + benefits

Individual pay is determined by factors including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training.

Learn more about benefits at Google.

Minimum qualifications

• PhD degree in Robotics or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience.
• 15 years of experience in robotics systems engineering or architecture, and experience with technical innovation.
• Experience in the robotics industry, leading robotics applications development and turning Research and Development (R&D) into deployed, real-world systems.
• Experience in robotic control, planning, kinematics, and mechatronic systems.

Preferred qualifications

• Experience with embedded systems (e.g., RTOS, microcontrollers, FPGA), sensor fusion, and actuator control.
• Experience implementing foundational vision-language-action (VLA) models, imitation learning, and reinforcement learning (RL) pipelines to teach robots dynamic object manipulation.
• Experience executing low-latency teleoperation infrastructure, haptic feedback integration, and human-in-the-loop systems for complex, remote hardware interventions and data collection.
• Familiarity with motion control systems and robotics programming languages (e.g. Robot Operating System) or similar frameworks.
• Practical understanding of recent advancements in the robotics field, specifically the application of general-purpose bipedal/wheeled humanoid platforms for flexible, human-centric data center tasks.

About the job

The AI and Infrastructure (AI2) team is redefining what's possible. We empower Google customers with breakthrough capabilities and insights by delivering AI and Infrastructure at unparalleled scale, efficiency, reliability, and velocity. Our customers include Googlers, Google Cloud customers, and billions of Google users worldwide. As Principal Engineer, you will define the strategic and technical direction for the PIE Robotics roadmap.

In this role, you will lead the strategy and technical development of Data Center hardware robotics systems. You will lead internally and externally, to deliver robotics automation solutions to enable our scale up and out hardware deployment, repair operations, and final decommission.

We're the driving force behind Google's groundbreaking innovations, empowering the development of our cutting-edge AI models, delivering unparalleled computing power to global services, and providing the essential platforms that enable developers to build the future. From software to hardware, our teams are shaping the future of world-leading hyperscale computing, with key teams working on the development of our TPUs, Vertex AI for Google Cloud, Google Global Networking, Data Center operations, systems research, and much more.

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If you have a need that requires accommodation, please let us know by completing our Accommodations for Applicants form.

Google is a global company and, in order to facilitate efficient collaboration and communication globally, English proficiency is a requirement for all roles unless stated otherwise in the job posting.

Equity is granted exclusively and discretionarily by Alphabet Inc. on the basis of an agreement concluded between you and Alphabet Inc. Alphabet Inc. is your sole contractual partner with respect to equity grants. GSU grants are not guaranteed, are discretionary, are subject to approval by the Alphabet Inc. board of directors or its delegate, the terms of the relevant Alphabet Inc. stock plan, and your grant agreement. They have no impact on statutory payments. Current or past grants do not confer an acquired right.

Locations

• Google Place: Sunnyvale, CA, USA
• Level: Director+