Staff Certification Lead

Are you excited to lead the certification strategy for cutting-edge robotic systems that must meet the highest standards of safety and reliability? Do you thrive at the intersection of engineering, compliance, and real-world deployment—translating complex safety standards into actionable product decisions? Are you energized by owning critical programs end-to-end and working cross-functionally to bring innovative hardware to market? If so, we invite you to join Cobot as our Staff Certification Lead. In this role, you’ll drive functional and product safety certification for our next-generation robotic platforms, partnering closely with engineering, product, and external certification bodies to ensure our systems are designed, validated, and delivered with safety at their core. You’ll play a pivotal role in shaping how certification is embedded into our development lifecycle—bringing technical rigor, strategic clarity, and executional excellence to a fast-paced, mission-driven team building the future of human-robot interaction. Join us to reimagine the future of human-robot interaction. Collaborative Robotics is a team of innovators and builders redefining the future of human-robot interaction. We are working to realize a world where robots are a trusted extension of your surroundings. They work, adapt, and react around you. Not the other way around. This role is located onsite at our Santa Clara, CA headquarters. Key Responsibilities: - Own end-to-end certification strategy and execution and lead the company through functional safety and product safety certification. - Serve as the primary interface with external certification bodies. - Interpret and operationalize safety certification standards. - Work closely with partner teams on delivering architectures, designs and test results. - Provide technical judgement and decision making for certification needs. - Own artifact generation and analysis for certification delivery. - Partner with external certification test entities to deliver on test results. Minimum Qualifications: - Bachelor’s degree in Engineering (Mechanical, Electrical, Systems, Robotics, or related field) or equivalent experience. - 5+ years of experience in product safety, certification, compliance, or a closely related field. - Demonstrated experience leading or owning certification efforts for complex electromechanical products. - Strong working knowledge of relevant safety and certification standards (e.g., ISO13849, IEC61508, NFPA79, etc), with the ability to interpret and apply them. - Experience working directly with external certification bodies or test labs. - Proven ability to drive cross-functional programs and influence engineering teams. - Strong program management skills, including planning, tracking, and risk management. - Ability to make sound technical judgments in ambiguous or fast-moving environments. - Excellent communication skills, including the ability to interface with both deeply technical teams and executive stakeholders. - Enjoy working in a fast paced, collaborative and dynamic start-up environment as part of a small team. - Willing to occasionally travel. - Must have and maintain US work authorization. Preferred Qualifications: - Experience in robotics, automation, industrial systems, or safety-critical hardware products. - Experience with both hardware and software/system-level safety certification. - Prior experience acting as the primary certification lead or DRI for a product from development through approval. - Background that blends engineering depth with program/product leadership (e.g., tech lead, systems engineer, or technical PM). - Experience shaping product architecture or design decisions to meet safety/certification requirements. - Familiarity with risk assessment methodologies (e.g., FMEA, hazard analysis). - Experience in a fast-paced startup or new product introduction (NPI) environment. The annual base salary range for this position is $205,000-$235,000 plus equity a