Customer Deployment Operations Manager - Austin, TX

Apptronik is a human-centered robotics company developing AI-powered robots to support humanity in every facet of life. Our flagship humanoid robot, Apollo, is built to collaborate thoughtfully with people, starting with critical industries such as manufacturing and logistics, wi ...

Job description

Apptronik is a human-centered robotics company developing AI-powered robots to support humanity in every facet of life. Our flagship humanoid robot, Apollo, is built to collaborate thoughtfully with people, starting with critical industries such as manufacturing and logistics, with future applications in healthcare, the home, and beyond.

We operate at the cutting edge of embodied AI, applying our expertise across the full robotics stack to solve some of society's most important problems. You will join a team dedicated to bringing Apollo to market at scale, tackling the complex challenges like safety, commercialization, and mass production to change the world for the better.

JOB SUMMARY

The Customer Deployment Operations Manager serves as Apptronik's primary on-site commercial representative during Apollo robot deployments at customer facilities. This role leads and coordinates customer-facing deployments, with two core areas of responsibility:

• Customer relationship management and communication, and

• Deployment team coordination, logistics, and execution oversight.

Reporting to the Senior Deployment Program Manager within the Commercial organization, this role acts as the single coordination point during customer field deployments. The position streamlines communication, reduces ad hoc follow-ups, captures customer feedback, and ensures commercial objectives are executed efficiently, professionally, and transparently.

This role requires frequent travel (up to ~50%) and close collaboration with product, engineering, application engineering, customer success, and service teams. The ideal candidate combines strong customer-facing communication skills with disciplined project execution and comfort operating in fast-moving, evolving technology environments.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES or KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

Deployment Execution & Operations

• Own end-to-end execution of on-site commercial deployments, serving as the primary coordination and accountability point during customer field activities.
• Maintain and actively manage deployment schedules, dependencies, milestones, and daily execution plans; identify risks and adjust plans as conditions evolve.
• Track progress against deployment objectives and provide clear, concise status reporting to commercial leadership and cross-functional stakeholders.
• Coordinate deployment team logistics and on-site planning, including:
• • Aligning team travel timing, coverage, and presence with deployment plans (focused on operational readiness and efficiency—not transactional travel booking).
• Leading daily pre-work briefings, goal setting, and alignment sessions.
• Managing end-of-day reporting, action item tracking, and follow-ups.
• Coordinating maintenance support requests and on-site team schedules.
• Ensure deployment teams operate in compliance with Apptronik and customer operational, safety, and security standards, maintaining high standards for professionalism, cleanliness, and conduct at customer facilities.

Customer Interface & Relationship Management

• Establish and maintain strong working relationships with customer stakeholders during deployments.
• Develop a working understanding of customer goals, industry context, partnership objectives, and operational pain points.
• Actively gather customer feedback, feature requests, and capability gaps observed during deployments.
• Serve as the single follow-up owner for commercial-originated customer requests, reducing fragmentation and eliminating the need for individual team members to chase updates.
• Maintain visibility into product, engineering, and deployment progress and communicate relevant updates back to customer-facing and commercial stakeholders.

Cross-Functional Coordination

• Ensure alignment between commercial priorities and on-site field execution.
• Identify risks, conflicts, or resource constraints early and support resolution through appropriate escalation paths.
• Partner closely with Customer Success, Deployment Program Leadership, Application Engineering, Project Management, Product, Engineering, and Service teams to ensure smooth deployment execution and feedback flow.

Process & Operational Excellence

• Help establish, document, and refine customer deployment processes and best practices.
• Develop repeatable methods to improve deployment efficiency, communication clarity, and execution transparency.
• Continuously improve how customer insights and deployment learnings are captured and translated into actionable inputs for future deployments and product development.

SKILLS AND REQUIREMENTS

• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to translate effectively between commercial, technical, and customer audiences.
• Highly organized and detail-oriented, with strong execution discipline and comfort managing competing priorities.
• Proactive, structured, and adaptable in fast-paced, ambiguous environments.
• Strong stakeholder management skills with the ability to influence without direct authority.

EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE

• 3+ years of experience in customer-facing project or operations management roles, preferably within technology, robotics, or complex hardware/software environments.
• Experience supporting commercial, go-to-market, or customer deployment initiatives involving cross-functional technical teams.
• Demonstrated ability to lead and coordinate multi-disciplinary teams in on-site, resource-constrained customer environments.
• Experience working closely with engineering, application engineering, and technical program management teams strongly preferred.
• Bachelor's degree in Business Operations, Project Management, Engineering, or a related field required.
• Advanced degree a plus; engineering or technical coursework strongly preferred.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS:

• Prolonged periods of sitting at a desk and working on a computer
• Vision to read printed materials and a computer screen
• Hearing and speech to communicate

Work From Home (WFH) Details

• WFH Availability:

• Fully Remote

• Potentially 50% time on the road

• This is a direct hire. Please, no outside Agency solicitations.

Apptronik provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.