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Chicago, Illinois, United States
Hybrid
Who we are:
Formic is on a mission to reshape American manufacturing by making automation accessible to every factory. As labor constraints rise, costs increase, and global competition intensifies, automation is no longer optional for manufacturers that want to stay competitive.
We deliver automation through a Robotics-as-a-Service model that combines industrial robotics, proprietary software, and full-service support into a single, integrated solution. By removing the traditional barriers of cost, complexity, and risk, we enable manufacturers to deploy automation quickly and realize measurable gains in throughput, safety, and operational efficiency without large upfront capital investment.
Backed by leading investors including Lux Capital, Initialized Capital, Blackhorn Ventures, and Mitsubishi HC Capital North America, Formic is scaling rapidly and building the foundation for a new era of high-performance, Made in America production.
About the team:
The Project Engineering team is a multidisciplinary engineering group within Automation Engineering Group, bringing mechanical, electrical, and controls engineering together under a single organization. The team serves as the engineering escalation path for the deployed fleet, taking on problems that exceed field-level troubleshooting and converting them into scoped, engineered, and standardized solutions.
The team's work spans three connected areas. The first is the troubleshooting of complex problems: diagnosing multi-discipline failures across deployed robotic systems and engineering permanent, root-cause fixes rather than repeat repairs. The second is continuous improvement: converting recurring issues and field data into reliability upgrades and fleet-wide standardization. The third is support for existing and new product development and enhancements, in partnership with teams across the organization, to improve equipment currently in the field and to bring new capability online.
Positioned at the intersection of design, commissioning, and field support, the team operates as a cross-functional unit, with engineers at the Bolingbrook hub working alongside field implementation resources across North America. The work is a deliberate blend of reactive support and proactive engineering, and each role on the team contributes to uptime, performance consistency, and long-term customer outcomes across the fleet.
About the role:
As a Robotics & Automation Project Engineer, you will apply advanced engineering principles to the design, analysis, optimization, reliability, and continuous improvement of deployed robotic systems. You will independently evaluate complex, multidisciplinary technical problems, develop engineered solutions, and exercise technical judgment in determining how those solutions are designed, validated, and implemented across Formic's fleet in demanding production environments.
This role blends reactive support with proactive engineering. You will diagnose complex issues, implement structured improvements, and partner cross-functionally to strengthen system stability across the fleet. Your work directly impacts uptime, performance consistency, and long-term customer outcomes.
In this role you will:
What makes you a great fit:
Bonus points if you have:
At Formic, we believe people do their best work when they feel supported both professionally and personally. That’s why we offer a comprehensive benefits and perks package for full-time, U.S.-based team members, including:
Formic’s pay and equity packages are thoughtfully benchmarked against peer companies at a similar growth stage. Equity represents a meaningful part of our mutual investment: when Formic succeeds, so do you.
Final offers are customized based on experience, geographic location, market considerations, and a candidate’s preferred balance of cash and equity. Our goal is to attract and reward top talent who will have significant impact, and we are open to thoughtful discussions to align on the right structure.
What we look for:
We’re building this company from the ground up, and every person we hire has an outsized impact on our culture, performance, and trajectory. While each team member brings unique strengths and perspectives, we look for people who align with our Operating Principles and embody them in action. If this sounds like you, Formic may be the right place for you!
Equal Opportunity Employment:
Formic is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion or religious creed, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, marital status, family or parental status, disability, military or veteran status, or any other basis protected by law. All employment decisions are based on a person’s merit, business needs, and role requirements. If you require further accommodations or have questions regarding accessibility of our roles, please reach out to careers@formic.co.
AI Use:
At Formic, fairness and transparency are at the heart of our hiring process. We use AI-powered tools in some interviews to help our teams evaluate candidate responses, but all final hiring decisions are made by humans. You can learn more about how AI is used in our recruitment process by reviewing our AI Hiring Disclosure linked here.