Head of Robot Support Operations

Role outline

You will build and lead Engineered Arts' global support function, turning a hands-on team into a scalable, international operation. You will own the customer's experience of our robots from installation through to end-of-life, covering fleet readiness, training, remote and field support, repair and refurbishment.

Our Ameca and Mesmer humanoid robots are known worldwide, appearing in the media, at trade shows and at high-profile events from Las Vegas to Dubai. As our installed base grows across continents, every customer needs to feel that expert help is close at hand, whether their robot is in a museum, a research lab, a corporate HQ or on a show floor.

This is a rare opportunity to build a function from the ground up. You will define how we install, maintain, diagnose and repair a complex hybrid of mechanical, electronic and software systems, decide what we build in-house and where partners make sense, and put in place the people, processes, SOPs and tools needed to support customers across time zones. You will also be the voice of the customer inside the business, feeding real-world insight into product, quality and engineering so our robots get better with every engagement.

You will report to the COO as a trusted strategic partner: someone who shapes our global support plans with senior leadership, then goes away and delivers them, building the team and the processes without needing close direction. Our internal motto is 'Be Wow'. Our robots are certainly wow, and you will make sure the experience of owning one is too.

Main responsibilities

Strategy & Organisation Building

• Define the vision, structure and operating model for global support operations, covering fleet readiness, pre-delivery readiness, installation, training, remote support, field service, repair and end-of-life
• Accountable for a tiered support model (helpdesk, remote diagnostics, field engineering, escalation to engineering) with clear ownership and handoffs
• Accountable for international customer coverage, including follow-the-sun support, regional hubs, and the use of local partners or contractors where they make sense
• Define the build, partner or hybrid strategy for each part of the operation (e.g. support, installation, repair and refurbishment), with clear criteria for when to build in-house and when to use partners, and bring recommendations to senior leadership
• Build the business case for headcount, tools, spares and partners as the installed base grows, and own the support budget
• Own the support roadmap, and craft, uphold and report annual OKRs
• Define and own the processes and SOPs across support operations, and ensure they are followed, audited and kept current as the robots and software evolve
• Where partners are used, select, contract and manage them across any service area (e.g. support, installation, repair and refurbishment), setting performance standards and ensuring agreed SOPs and service levels are followed
• Leading the Team
• Organise the team structure, roles and responsibilities, introducing team leads as the team and regional coverage grow
• Lead, coach and develop the Robot Support Engineers, setting clear goals and high standards
• Conduct regular team reviews, feedback sessions and annual appraisals
• Recruit engineers and operations staff across regions, and grow future team leads
• Accountable for engineer competence: define and own the training and assessment standard and sign-off for new and existing engineers, developed with the Assembly, Mechanical, Software and Product teams
• Plan and manage travel rotas, workload, time off and absence cover so the team balances field work, events and office time sustainably
• Protect team wellbeing across a frequently travelling team, and build a culture of root-cause problem solving, ownership and customer care
• Promote and uphold a strong safety culture in line with HSE requirements

Support Operations

• Accountable for the helpdesk and ticketing workflow: define and own triage, prioritisation and escalation SOPs and the knowledge base, ensuring they are followed
• Define tooling requirements for helpdesk, ticketing and knowledge management, and recommend solutions to Senior Leadership, who decide tooling to keep it standardised across the business
• Set, own and report service levels (response and resolution times, uptime, first-time fix rate) and customer satisfaction
• Own the secure remote access policy and process for customer robots, ensuring customer approvals, access controls and data protection requirements are followed
• Set the self-service and customer training strategy to reduce support demand, ensuring resources are produced and kept current

Fleet, Spares & Safety

• Accountable for in-house robot fleet readiness for demos, development and events, owning the maintenance, upgrade and readiness SOPs
• Own the repair and refurbishment flow
• Establish and own the global spares strategy covering stock levels, regional holding, reorder triggers, working with Technical Procurement on purchasing and Production on spares manufacture
• Own the safe working framework and risk assessment standard for installation, operation, maintenance, events and customer sites, ensuring assessments are completed and followed

Customers & Service Offering

• Act as senior escalation point for customers when issues are critical or sensitive
• Own the warranty process and the delivery of agreed service levels, providing cost-to-serve and feasibility input to the Sales and Commercial teams on support and maintenance packages and service contracts
• Own the delivery standard, SOPs and escalation path for rentals, installations and trade show support, ensuring every engagement is executed consistently to a high standard
• Work with the Sales and Commercial teams to support existing customers who come to support for commercial purposes
• Improving the Product
• Turn support data into insight: identify recurring issues, trends and root causes, and drive long-term fixes with QC, Product Development and Engineering
• Own the field failure data flow to QC, with QC owning non-conformance and corrective action
• Feed field learning into the design of next-generation robots, including serviceability and remote diagnostic capabilities
• Report on support performance, costs and product reliability to senior leadership

Challenges

• Building structure, processes and SOPs at pace without losing the agility and hands-on spirit of a growing company
• Running fleet readiness, spares and day-to-day support while building the function, keeping customers supported and events delivered while the longer-term structure is put in place
• Supporting a product that combines mechanics, electronics and software, where root causes can sit anywhere in the system
• Delivering a consistent experience to customers across many countries and time zones, often at high-visibility events
• Balancing the cost of global coverage (people, travel, spares, partners) against customer expectations and commercial realities
• Keeping the team's knowledge and SOPs current as the robots and software evolve rapidly
• Managing a team that travels frequently, while protecting wellbeing
• Influencing engineering priorities so field issues are fixed at the root, not just patched

Qualifications, knowledge, key skills and experience

Essential

• Proven track record of building or scaling a technical support or service operation across multiple regions, including team structure, processes, SOPs, tooling requirements and performance metrics
• Significant leadership of technical support, field service or service engineering teams for complex hardware products
• International customer support delivery across time zones, including managing remote teams, regional hubs, partners or distributors
• Working with service partners, contractors or distributors, including assessing build-versus-partner options and selecting, contracting and managing them
• Strong technical grounding in hardware support, with the ability to guide root-cause diagnosis across mechanical, electronic and software issues
• Defining and owning processes and SOPs, and ensuring they are followed
• Setting and managing service levels, KPIs and support budgets, and building business cases for headcount, tools and partners
• Working knowledge of helpdesk, ticketing and knowledge management platforms, able to define requirements and workflows
• Recruiting, developing and appraising teams, and building future team leads
• Strategic thinker able to shape plans with senior leadership and then execute independently
• Excellent leadership, communication and stakeholder management skills, with the confidence to represent the company with senior customers
• Willingness to travel internationally
• Ability to deal with out-of-hours issues when they arise, such as critical customer escalations or live events

Desirable

• Background in robotics, automation, machine tools, medical devices or similar complex equipment
• Designing warranty processes and service level frameworks, with input to service contracts and support packages
• Familiarity with spares planning, including regional stock holding and international parts logistics, and fleet management
• Supporting live events, trade shows or rentals
• Knowledge of remote diagnostics, secure remote access, networking and IoT device management
• Understanding of health and safety, data protection and security practices relevant to field service
• Working knowledge of quality systems (e.g. ISO 9001), including feeding field failure data into corrective action

Useful

• A passion for humanoid robots and human-robot interaction
• Formal management or leadership training
• Fluency in multiple languages
• Python scripting experience
• A degree or equivalent qualification in engineering, robotics or a related discipline

About Engineered Arts LLC

Engineered Arts is the leading manufacturer of full-size humanoid robots used for entertainment, education and communication. With 20 years of hardware and software development, our robots have been sold in over 30 countries worldwide with customers such as NASA, PwC, Meta and many more.

Our Ameca robot is well known as ‘the face of AI’ and a social media viral success, taking advantage of the generative AI craze. Along with our ultra-realistic Mesmer range of animated figures our robots continue to surprise and excite visitors at museums, theme parks, visitor attractions and trade shows as well as aid leading universities with AI and robotics research. Our robots are poised to break into the future mega-expansion service robot segment, with applications such as front of house, receptions, check-in desks, information points and PoS.

We are also exploring how our humanoid robot technology can disrupt other robotics sectors by expanding their applications into areas such as hospitality, front desk and healthcare industries.

We are a team of dedicated engineers and creatives striving to develop the very best experiences for our customers. Our internal motto is ‘Be Wow’, everything we do is fun, entertaining or surprising to encounter. We always push the boundaries of what is possible in humanoid robotics, researching and developing new systems and techniques to further their appeal. We explore and challenge the human perception of robots as well as the fear and discomfort and the excitement and joy life-like mechanical humanoids present.

“Diversity & Inclusion at Engineered Arts

At Engineered Arts, innovation is at the core of everything we do — and we believe true innovation only happens when diverse minds come together.

We are committed to building a workplace where people of all backgrounds, identities, and perspectives feel welcome, supported, and empowered to contribute. Whether you’re an engineer, developer, or creative thinker, we value what makes you unique.

We actively promote inclusion across our hiring, design, and development practices, and we’re always looking for new ways to reflect the world around us — in our team, our robots, and our ideas.

Because building the future means including everyone in it.”

We are committed to equal opportunity in employment and comply with all applicable non-discrimination and equal employment laws in the regions where we operate.