Engineering Full-Time

Automation Engineer (US)

Even Platforms • Austin, TX

Company

Even Platforms

Annual salary

$150k – $200k/yr

Location

Austin, TX

Listed

17d ago

Experience:: 3 to 5 years
Workplace:: On-site at Even Platforms' facility in Austin, Texas. This is a hands-on shop floor role requiring daily presence to work directly with CNC machines, robotic cells, and manufacturing equipment.
Equity:: As an early-stage startup backed by top-tier investors including Khosla Ventures, Even Platforms is expected to offer <strong>equity compensation</strong> (stock options) as part of the total package. Specific equity details will be discussed during the offer stage and will reflect the seniority and impact of the role. Given that this is the <strong>first Automation Engineer hire</strong> and a foundational role in designing the company's autonomous machining cell strategy, the equity grant is expected to be meaningful, reflecting the outsized impact this person will have on the company's core product as it scales from its first facility to a nationwide network of autonomous factories.

On-site in Austin, TX.

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What you'll do

Define our standardized tool set and tool wear parameters so we know exactly when a tool gets swapped out, maximizing part coverage while minimizing unique tooling
Design our standard vise and workholding system to minimize the number of unique fixtures while maximizing the range of parts the cell can hold
Own the pallet strategy, how jobs are assigned to pallets and sequenced through the cell so it stays running unattended through nights and weekends
Specify and implement machine monitoring hardware (Marposs, Caron Engineering) including spindle load, torque, and vibration sensors to detect bad cuts or worn tools before they become scrapped parts
Define our next-generation quality inspection stack, evaluating technologies such as CT scanning, in-machine probing, and automated CMM programming
Lead machine and equipment selection for future iterations of the cell, CNC machines, wash stations, and quality equipment, from requirements through vendor evaluation and acceptance testing
Prove out new parts through first article and process qualification before they are released to run unattended
Work closely with software engineers to build automation workflows into manufacturing processes and push the boundaries of lights-out production

What you need

We need someone with 3+ years of experience in CNC machining and manufacturing engineering who has deep hands-on experience with 5-axis milling and a strong engineering foundation. You should be comfortable working on the shop floor, thinking at a systems level about tooling, fixturing, and process optimization, and eager to architect an automated machining cell from scratch. Bonus points if you have experience running or engineering automated cells with pallet systems, machining hard alloys like titanium and Inconel, or working in aerospace and defense manufacturing environments.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I apply for the Automation Engineer (US) role at Even Platforms? +

Use the Apply for a referral button on this page to send us your LinkedIn and CV. If your experience fits, we'll introduce you to the recruiter filling this role. They'll email you to check you're interested, then put you forward for this job or others that suit you better. It's free.

What does this Even Platforms role pay? +

The listing gives $150k – $200k/yr.

Is this role remote? +

The listing gives the location as Austin, TX. On-site at Even Platforms' facility in Austin, Texas. This is a hands-on shop floor role requiring daily presence to work directly with CNC machines, robotic cells, and manufacturing equipment.

Interview Prep

Sample questions for a Automation Engineer role, written in-house to help you prepare.

How do you decide which manual tests are worth automating versus which should stay manual?

I prioritize automating tests that run frequently and have stable, predictable expected outcomes, since those give the best return on the effort to build and maintain the automation. Exploratory or highly visual tests that require human judgment are usually a poor fit for automation and stay manual.

What's your approach to writing automated tests that don't become flaky over time?

I avoid relying on fixed wait times and instead wait for specific conditions, like an element becoming visible or a network call completing, since fixed waits are a common cause of intermittent failures. I also isolate tests from each other so one test's failure or side effect doesn't cascade into unrelated test failures.

How do you approach automating a workflow that spans multiple systems with different interfaces?

I identify stable integration points, like an API, between the systems rather than automating purely through the UI wherever possible, since UI automation across systems tends to be slower and more brittle. Where UI automation is unavoidable, I isolate it to the specific steps that genuinely require it.

What's your process for debugging a script that works in one environment but fails in another?

I compare the environments systematically, checking for differences in configuration, dependencies, or data rather than assuming the script itself has a bug, since environment differences are a very common cause of this pattern. I try to reproduce the failure with minimal changes to isolate exactly what's different.

See all 10 questions for this role →