Robotics Devtools Lead
This is a role for a hands-on robot programmer who knows the system-integration business from the inside - and wants to modernize the software tools integrators use to build, commission and support robotic systems.
Cenotian is building a product and go-to-market partnership with Foxglove, the robotics data and visualization platform. We are hiring the person who will turn that technology into an offering that fits the installed stacks, engineering workflows and economics of system integrators. This role begins with Foxglove, but it does not end there. Over time, you will help build a broader ecosystem of software partners around the integrator development lifecycle.
Context
Cenotian is the market maker for robotics, restoring industrial sovereignty in the West. We provide capital and capabilities to back physical automation projects across the US and Europe. The engineers who build and install robots, machines and systems are under financial and operational pressure and struggle to scale. We remove those bottlenecks with financing and services designed specifically for system integrators. Capital is one constraint. Engineering productivity is another. Many integrators still debug complex systems through a fragmented mix of controller tools, custom scripts, screenshots, exported logs and knowledge held by individual engineers. Problems found during commissioning can be difficult to reproduce; robot, PLC, vision and sensor data are rarely reviewed in one time-synchronized environment; and lessons from one project do not reliably become reusable workflows for the next. Foxglove provides a foundation to change this. Its platform records, organizes and visualizes multimodal robotics data - from time series and logs to video, 3D, transforms and maps - across both live systems and recorded runs. Its support for ROS, Protobuf and the open MCAP format, together with SDKs, APIs and extensibility, creates a path from ad hoc troubleshooting toward shared, repeatable engineering workflows. Our opportunity is to make that capability useful to system integrators whose environments extend beyond modern ROS stacks. That means connecting Foxglove to industrial robots, PLCs, vision systems and custom machines; defining high-value workflows for commissioning and remote support; and packaging the technology so an integrator can adopt it without building an internal software platform first.
Position overview
The Robotics Devtools Lead owns the journey from integrator problem to adopted product: discovery, technical validation, integration design, pilots, packaging, launch and continuous improvement. Foxglove will be the initial anchor partner. You will work closely with its product and Dev Rel teams while representing the realities of the system-integration market. You will determine what Foxglove provides, what Cenotian must add and what the integrator needs to change for the combined offering to work. This is a hands-on, field-oriented role. You will sit with robot programmers, inspect real project data, build demonstrations and lightweight connectors, run pilots and help Commercial convert proven value into repeatable adoption. You own whether the product improves how integrators engineer and deliver projects - not just whether the software is deployed.
Key responsibilities
- 01
Define the Foxglove offering for system integrators
- Map how integrators currently program, test, debug, commission and support robotic systems.
- Identify where synchronized live and recorded data can materially reduce diagnosis time, travel, rework or commissioning risk.
- Prioritize initial use cases such as multi-system debugging, remote fault analysis, commissioning review, acceptance evidence and knowledge transfer.
- Define the complete offer: Foxglove capabilities, industrial connectors, reference layouts, onboarding, training, support and commercial packaging.
- Make explicit what Foxglove delivers, what Cenotian delivers and what the integrator must be able to operate.
- 02
Bridge modern robotics software and industrial automation
- Get hands-on with robot programs, PLC signals, vision data, logs and network interfaces to establish technical feasibility.
- Design practical ways to capture, normalize and visualize data from heterogeneous automation stacks.
- Use Foxglove's SDKs, APIs, MCAP workflows, extensions and live connections where appropriate; identify where additional adapters or services are required.
- Build credible demonstrations, lightweight connectors and reusable reference workflows with Cenotian, Foxglove and pilot customers.
- Test constraints early: legacy controllers, proprietary protocols, edge connectivity, cybersecurity, customer data policies and limited engineering time.
- 03
Run pilots and prove the economics
- Select integrators and projects with a real problem, a usable data path and a credible route to adoption.
- Define baselines, success metrics, timelines and stop conditions before each pilot.
- Measure engineering hours saved, speed of fault isolation, reduction in site visits or rework, and improvement in commissioning or support quality.
- Convert successful pilots into repeatable deployment methods rather than one-off technical achievements.
- Turn field evidence into a prioritized roadmap and clear feedback for Foxglove and future software partners.
- 04
Build the product and partner portfolio
- Work with Commercial to define the target segment, value proposition, pricing and route to market.
- Build the demonstrations, qualification questions, onboarding guides and evidence-backed business cases required to sell credibly.
- Join early customer conversations and convert pilots into paid adoption.
- Track activation, time to value, repeat usage, paid conversion and delivery effort.
- Identify complementary software partners that can modernize other parts of the integrator toolchain, while keeping the initial Foxglove offer focused and successful.
You'll know it's working when
Integrators use shared Foxglove workflows on live projects without needing you beside them.
Engineers can move from a reported problem to the relevant synchronized data faster.
Pilots produce measurable operational value and convert into paid adoption.
Connecting a new project becomes progressively faster and less bespoke.
Foxglove receives clear, evidence-based input from the industrial integration market.
Cenotian develops a credible roadmap for additional software partnerships around the integrator workflow.
Candidate profile
What we require
- Deep, hands-on robot-programming experience. You have personally programmed, debugged and commissioned robotic systems under real delivery pressure.
- Most of your career in the system-integration ecosystem. Ideally within a system integrator or robotics solution builder, with direct responsibility for engineering and customer delivery.
- Strong understanding of integrator economics and operations: quoting, engineering allocation, commissioning, acceptance, warranty and after-sales support.
- Technical fluency across robot controllers, PLCs, industrial networks, vision or sensor systems, and software interfaces.
- The ability to understand data flows, create a prototype integration and make sound build-versus-configure decisions.
- Evidence of turning a technical capability into a tool, workflow, product or service that other engineers actually adopted.
- The ability to move between hands-on engineering, product judgment and commercial reasoning.
- A previous Product Lead or Product Manager title is not required. Integration experience, product judgment and a record of shipping useful things matter more than product-management ceremonies.
Nice to have
- Hands-on experience with Foxglove on real robotics or physical-AI projects.
- Experience with ROS/ROS 2, MCAP or rosbag, Protobuf, multimodal telemetry and time-synchronized data.
- Working capability in Python, C++ or another language used for robotics integrations and engineering tools.
- Experience building connectors between industrial automation systems and modern data or cloud platforms.
- Exposure to developer-tool adoption, technical partnerships, software packaging, onboarding or technical sales.
- Effective use of AI coding tools to accelerate prototyping and documentation.
Personality
- High agency: you stay with a problem until it works in the customer's environment.
- Technically credible, commercially curious and comfortable in the field.
- More interested in evidence from an integration workshop than assumptions from a meeting room.
- Pragmatic about technology and alert to the difference between an impressive demo and an adopted workflow.
- Direct, collaborative and willing to surface inconvenient evidence early.
Organizational context
You will work most closely with Foxglove's product and engineering teams; Cenotian Commercial and GTM; internal Engineering and Data; Technical Qualification; and system-integrator pilot customers.
- The Robotics Devtools Lead owns customer fit, product priorities and adoption outcomes.
- Commercial agreements and contractual partner commitments remain with the relevant functional owners.
- This is a builder's seat: make Foxglove valuable in the realities of industrial system integration, then help Cenotian build the broader software stack that modern integrators deserve.
Apply for this role
Tell us who you are and where to find you. A CV is welcome, not required.