Deployment Engineer - Bolingbrook (Chicago, IL)
About us
At Gideon, we’re transforming the world of logistics with Trey, our autonomous forklift — already deployed in real operations and backed by a strategic partnership with Toyota. You’ll be at the center of real-world deployment, helping customers go live with advanced robotics in high-impact environments.
Our team consists of 100+ super-talented people, including top-notch experts in the field of hardware and software engineering, and is devoted to developing robots with a mission of making people's work easier.
We are an ambitious group of tech enthusiasts with different backgrounds, skills, and experiences, very excited and passionate about what we do! And above all, we cherish team spirit, constant learning and kindness. There is much more to learn, so we hope this piqued your curiosity!
About the role
As a Deployment Engineer, you lead our autonomous robot deployments from readiness through closeout. You own the technical judgment calls, direct the Deployment Technicians executing on site, and stay accountable for the deployment whether or not you are physically there.
This is a leadership role rather than a purely hands-on one. Deployment Technicians carry the on-site execution: unloading, network setup, calibrations, testing, and operator handoff. You set them up to succeed, unblock them when documented procedure runs out, and make the calls that require engineering judgment - configuration compatibility, PLC work, and anything that deviates from the agreed design.
Because execution sits with technicians, you carry multiple deployment sites at once rather than living at a single one. You travel the moments that need you in person - site opening, commissioning, safety validation, go-live, and escalations that cannot be resolved remotely and lead the rest remotely.
Responsibilities we’ll trust you with:
Deployment leadership
- Lead the deployment end to end, from readiness through closeout, and remain accountable for it regardless of who is on site.
- Own multiple deployment sites concurrently, tracking progress and open issues.
- Lead commissioning, facility mapping, project setup, fleet configuration, safety validation, and integration checks.
- Ensure the initial configuration is compatible before technicians begin execution.
- Own software and firmware updates - verify version compatibility across the stack and track what is deployed where.
- Lead live testing and go-live activities.
Leading technicians
- Instruct and lead Deployment Technicians, both on site and remotely.
- Act as the first point of contact for technicians during active deployment work.
- Validate technician work against deployment checklists and gates.
- Determine when a technician can carry execution unsupervised at each site.
Technical problem solving
- Diagnose faults that technicians have recognized, evidenced, and escalated.
- Analyze system logs and identify root causes across software, hardware, networking, and IT.
- Own all PLC work, including Beckhoff PLC and SPLC commissioning, updates, and parameters.
- Own every configuration adjustment and parameter change.
- Approve any deviation from the documented design, threshold, or pattern.
- Support critical technical escalations across customer deployments.
Program and coordination
- Communicate directly with the Project Manager on scope, schedule, and site status.
- Verify the On-Site Risk Assessment.
- Own and maintain deployment checklists.
- Escalate to Product and Engineering, and feed field reality back as product improvement input.
Customer success
- Act as the primary technical point of contact during deployment.
- Handle customer escalations professionally and confidently.
- Verify readiness for customer handoff and support final acceptance and project sign-off.
- Provide remote technical support to customers after go-live.
Sustaining and continuous improvement
- Support sustaining activities between deployments.
- Analyze robot performance and identify optimization opportunities.
- Support internal software and hardware validation.
- Improve technical, deployment, and customer documentation.
- Provide structured feedback to Product and Engineering to improve reliability.
Your area of expertise:
- Bachelor's degree in Robotics, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, or a related field or equivalent hands-on experience
- Experience with complex hardware systems - robotics strongly preferred; CNC machines, industrial automation, or large materials-testing equipment also considered.
- Proficient Linux knowledge, and comfort with Git and Docker.
- Solid understanding of networking - able to set up and troubleshoot your own network, and to work through addressing, VPN, and firewall questions with a customer IT team.
- Understanding of log systems, system states, and network configuration, with a strong instinct for troubleshooting and root-cause analysis.
- Strong critical thinking: able to reason through where in the system a problem sits before jumping to a fix.
- Comfortable directing and developing technicians, and confident deciding when someone is ready to work unsupervised.
- Comfortable delivering technical guidance and handling customer escalations professionally.
- Willingness to travel to customer sites at critical deployment moments.
- Valid US work authorization and driver’s license required.
Compensation: $115,000-$145,000 commensurate with experience
Bonus points:
- Familiarity with ROS.
- Experience with autonomous mobile robots or robotics systems specifically.
- PLC experience, particularly Beckhoff and TwinCAT.
- Prior experience as a Deployment Technician. A technical background without a four-year degree is welcome - hands-on experience with complex systems matters more than the diploma.
- Familiarity with bug and issue tracking tools such as Jira.
- Based within reach of our Bolingbrook, Illinois facility. This is a bonus, not a requirement - we are open to candidates anywhere in the United States.
Steps in the selection process:
Introduction
Tell us about your experiences and interests, and we will tell you more about the position, about our team and Gideon as a whole. We cherish the individual approach to every candidate and we are always curious to hear how we fit into your plans!
Technical Assessment
This stage will show you how the actual job will look like and how you fit in. You will get an insight into technical details by completing the technical task and discussion with one of our senior experts.
Final interview
The final step is a more in-depth conversation where you will get a full picture of how your work in Gideon would look like and what kind of culture we cherish.
Offer!
If all goes well, this is when we send you the offer with the information and details about compensation, vacation policy, benefits plan and all the other working details.
