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Field Services Technician - Robotics startup at Glacier · Remote…
Job Description
TLDR: Field Service Technician, based on the East Coast or Midwest, covering customer sites in that region. Requires an initial onboarding/training period at Glacier's San Francisco HQ before starting in-region. Hands-on troubleshooting, repairs, and maintenance on deployed robotic systems, up to 75% travel, base comp $70K-$85K.
Hey, we're Glacier! Series A startup based in San Francisco tackling one of the world's most pressing problems: trash. Did you know that in the US, we send over half of our recyclables to the landfill? We're working to fix that. In doing so, we'll also be reducing carbon emissions, energy consumption, and depletion of natural resources.
Glacier builds custom sorting robots designed to sort apart recyclables as well as AI-powered business analytics that enable recyclers to superpower their plants and improve our society's circularity. From major CPG companies like Colgate and Amazon to municipal recycling facilities, our clients trust us to turn recycling data into actionable insights. Our technology has been recognized as one of TIME's Best Inventions and featured in a TIME documentary, TechCrunch, Fortune, and CBS.
As we scale our fleet across the US, we're looking for a Field Service Technician based on the East Coast or Midwest to help keep our robots operating reliably in the field. You'll be the hands-on expert responsible for troubleshooting, repairing, maintaining, and improving deployed systems while partnering closely with engineering to maximize robot uptime and customer success.
After an initial onboarding and training period at our San Francisco headquarters, you'll be based in your home region and cover customer sites across the East Coast and Midwest, primarily supporting preventative maintenance and installations. Expect regional travel to nearby deployments with periodic travel to other sites as the fleet grows.
This role reports to our Director of Technical Customer Success and is ideal for someone who enjoys solving mechanical and electrical problems, working directly with customers, and spending time in the field. You'll play a critical role in ensuring our robots perform reliably while helping improve future generations of the product through direct field feedback.
Responsibilities:
Keep Our Fleet Running
Perform troubleshooting, preventative maintenance, and repairs on deployed robotic systems.
Travel to customer sites to diagnose issues, complete repairs, and return robots to service as quickly as possible.
Execute installations, upgrades, retrofits, and hardware improvements across the fleet.
Perform basic network and connectivity troubleshooting to bring offline or degraded units back online.
Manage a field parts kit and on-site spares — receive shipments, track usage, and coordinate replenishment with the inventory team.
Monitor fleet health and proactively identify opportunities to improve reliability and uptime.
Partner with Engineering
Document field issues thoroughly and provide actionable feedback to mechanical, electrical, and software engineering teams.
Assist with testing prototypes, validating design improvements, and installing new hardware revisions.
Support root cause investigations and continuous improvement efforts across the fleet.
Support Customers
Build trusted working relationships with customer operators during site visits.
Create and improve service documentation, work instructions, and troubleshooting guides.
Ensure customer-impacting issues are tracked and resolved in a timely manner, coordinating customer-facing communications with the Customer Success team.
Train operators on basic robot operation and maintenance best practices.
Represent Glacier professionally during customer interactions and help build long-term customer relationships.
Build the Startup
Help improve field service processes, tooling, and documentation as Glacier scales.
Take ownership of ambiguous technical problems and drive them through resolution.
Participate in an on-call rotation and support occasional nights, weekends, and off-hours work during deployments or critical customer issues.
What you bring:
Associate's or Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Engineering Technology, Aviation Maintenance, Industrial Maintenance, Mechatronics, Automotive Service or Maintenance, or 4+ years of equivalent hands-on experience
2+ years troubleshooting electromechanical equipment in the field
Strong mechanical and electrical troubleshooting skills
Comfortable using hand tools, multimeters, and diagnostic equipment
Experience reading mechanical drawings and electrical schematics
Basic network and connectivity troubleshooting (routers/modems, cellular, checking whether a device is online)
Excellent documentation and communication skills
Comfortable working independently with minimal supervision
Willingness to travel up to 75%, primarily across the East Coast and Midwest, including periodic domestic flights across the US.
Valid driver's license, clean driving record, and reliable transportation for regional site visits
Comfortable working in recycling facilities and industrial environments
Physical requirements & work environment:
Able to lift and carry up to 50 lbs, stand and walk for full shifts, and work in bent, kneeling, or overhead positions.
Comfortable working at height, on ladders/platforms, and around heavy moving machinery.
Willing and able to work in active recycling facilities — noise, dust, and variable temperatures — with required PPE.
Familiarity with industrial safety practices such as lockout/tagout (LOTO) and OSHA standards, or willingness to become certified.
Bonus points:
Experience supporting robotics, industrial automation, manufacturing equipment, or heavy machinery
Familiarity with Linux, networking, or basic scripting for troubleshooting
Experience with ticketing or documentation systems (e.g., Jira, Confluence) or a CMMS
Lockout/tagout, OSHA 10/30, or forklift certification
Startup experience
Why join us?
Mission-Driven Work, help deploy technology that keeps recyclable materials out of landfills.
Own Customer Impact, you'll be the face of Glacier in the field, ensuring customers get the most from our robots.
Hands-On Technical Work, every week brings new mechanical, electrical, and software challenges to solve.
Fast-Paced Growth, help scale one of the fastest-growing robotics fleets in the recycling industry.
The base compensation range for this role is $60,000–$80,000. In addition to cash compensation, Glacier also offers competitive equity compensation and benefits.
The final compensation for this role will depend on many individualized factors, including job-related skills and knowledge, experience level, interview performance, and other factors.
If you're excited about solving hands-on technical problems, traveling to customer sites, and becoming the expert customers rely on to keep Glacier's robots running, we'd love to hear from you.
Glacier is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic. All applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States.