Engineering Manager, Warehouse Execution/Fleet Management

About the Role

We are partnering with a pioneering ETH Zurich spin-off headquartered in Tokyo that is making advanced robotics accessible across the global logistics industry. They are looking for an Engineering Manager to lead the squads responsible for turning warehouse orders into coordinated work for fleets of robots and equipment across several robotic prouct lines.

You will own real-time orchestration, dispatch, traffic control, fleet management, and robot state machines, acting as the critical bridge between high-level planning and on-device behavior control.

What You’ll Do

• Execution & Ownership: Own orchestration, dispatch, traffic control, fleet management, and robot state machines end-to-end from roadmap to production.
• Interface Architecture: Ensure robust, stable contracts between the planning layer above and robot behavior control below, enabling independent iteration.
• Quality & TDD: Embed quality as a default by championing test-driven development, automated testing at every layer, and rigorous simulation validation before site deployment.
• Production Reliability: Drive predictability in live environments, focusing on fault handling, recovery workflows, observability, and incident response.
• Delivery & Cross-Functional Work: Translate roadmaps and customer deployments into actionable execution plans, collaborating closely with mechatronics, systems, and field teams.
• People Leadership: Lead and mentor 1–2 engineering squads, handling hiring, coaching, performance management, and growing technical leads.

What We're Looking For

• Production Track Record: Demonstrated experience owning the delivery of mission-critical control or execution systems in production (WCS, WES, MES, SCADA-adjacent systems, or robot fleet management).
• Scaling Experience: Proven ability to take products from 10 to 100—scaling a system from a few initial sites to reliable multi-customer deployment.
• Technical Mindset: Deep grounding in state machines, real-time constraints, failure handling/recovery, and system behavior under load.
• Engineering Standards: Hands-on practice with test-driven development (TDD), automated testing, and a history of elevating team quality bars.
• Domain Familiarity: Familiarity with ISA-95 (IEC 62264), MES/WCS design layers, and integrating enterprise software with real-time equipment control, alongside formal system modeling (state machines, process/data models).
• Leadership & Field Exposure: Strong technical credibility coupled with a passion for coaching and team building, plus exposure to customer sites, commissioning, or operations support.

What’s in It for You

• Global Relocation: An exceptional opportunity to move to Tokyo with full visa sponsorship and comprehensive relocation support.
• Cutting-Edge Robotics: Shape the future of warehouse logistics by working at the forefront of autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) and automated storage and retrieval systems (ASRS).
• Language Support: Access to subsidised Japanese language lessons to help you settle in and thrive locally (if interested).
• High-Impact Culture: Join an international, mission-driven team environment that values technical autonomy, collaboration, and continuous learning.