Senior Robotics/Automation Engineer

Senior Robotics/Automation Lead (PLC/Motion/Vision, Food - Washdown)

Location: Bengaluru (on-site; 20–30% travel to vendors and sites)

About Us:

We're reinventing meat for a planet-positive future. Our Gen4 precision-structuring platform is the first in the world to recreate all perceptible components of meat. It recreates the muscle fibres, connective tissue and fat of whole-cut chicken entirely from plants. Backed by investors with deep manufacturing and food technology expertise, we've commissioned our pilot line in Bangalore and are scaling rapidly toward first commercial launches. Every kilogram of Demolish meat saves water, land and carbon while keeping animals out of the equation. If you're excited to push the boundaries of engineering and scale solutions that matter, join us and help make food systems kinder, healthier and more sustainable.

Know more:

Role Summary:

Lead the design, delivery, and continuous improvement of robotic and automation cells that turn our process into reliable, high-throughput, food-grade machinery. You'll own controls architecture, PLC/motion, industrial robots, and inline vision - from proof-of-concepts to FAT/SAT and handover. You'll mentor a small team, standardize our controls stack, and partner with mechanical, product, and operations teams to move KPIs like OEE, FPY, MTTR, and changeover time.

Responsibilities:

1. Own lines end-to-end: specify architecture, IO, networks, and safety; drive FAT/SAT, IQ/OQ where applicable, and production ramp.
2. Program & commission: PLCs and motion control, plus HMIs, and SCADA.
3. Industrial robots: deploy and teach (UR/Fanuc/KUKA/ABB), including tool design, frames, kinematics, offline programming/simulation, and cycle-time tuning.
4. Vision systems: integrate Cognex/Keyence/Halcon or OpenCV for inspection, alignment, and robot guidance; select lighting/optics and manage glare/contrast.
5. Drives & motion: commission multi-axis servo/stepper/BLDC, VFDs, homing/limits, and safety-rated monitored stops; tune for throughput and stability.
6. Food-grade design: select IP66 - IP69K hardware, hygienic enclosures, cabling, and connectors; design for washdown, CIP/SIP interfaces, and sanitation verification.
7. Controls networking & data: Profinet/EtherNet/IP/Modbus-TCP, OPC UA/MQTT to edge/cloud; implement structured data logging, alarms, and dashboards.
8. Functional safety: perform risk assessments and implement ISO 13849/IEC 62061 safety chains (E-stops, light curtains, safety relays/PLC, CAT 3/PL d or better).
9. Operational excellence: track and improve OEE, FPY, MTBF/MTTR, energy per kg, waste, and changeover; lead A3/Kaizen on chronic losses.
10. Team & vendors: mentor 2-4 engineers, build internal code libraries/standards, manage vendors from spec to PO to build to FAT to SAT, and control scope/schedule/cost.
11. Documentation: maintain electrical/controls drawings, programs, SOPs, PMs, and lessons learned.

Requirements:

1. Education: B.Tech/M.Tech/MS in Robotics, Mechatronics, Electrical/Electronics, Controls, or Mechanical (with strong controls track).
2. Experience: 7-12 years in manufacturing automation, with ≥2 full deployments of robotic/automation cells/lines in production.
3. PLC/Motion: expert on Siemens or Rockwell (Ladder + ST), multi-axis motion, drives/encoders, safe torque off, and commissioning.
4. Robotics: production programming on at least one brand (UR/Fanuc/KUKA/ABB) plus offline tools/simulation; cycle-time analysis and tooling integration.
5. Vision: shipped camera-based inspection/locate/guide systems (Cognex/Keyence/Halcon/OpenCV) with correct lighting/optics selection.
6. Electrical: read/mark-up schematics; panel design/wiring oversight; field debug with meters/scopes; spec hygienic/IP69K components.
7. Comms & data: Profinet/EtherNet/IP/Modbus-TCP; OPC UA/MQTT integration to MES/data lake; structured logging and diagnostics.
8. Execution: vendor management, Gantt/critical-path control, and crisp change management; excellent cross-functional communication.
9. Nice to Have: Beckhoff TwinCAT 3; SCADA standards; URCaps/Fanuc iRVision; digital twins (RobotStudio/Process Simulate); Python/C++ for edge apps; CIP/SIP/allergen control exposure.
10. Identify strongly with our mission: You care about building dependable machines that make sustainable food at scale. You default to hands-on problem-solving, clear documentation, and collaborative iteration.