About us

Ulysses is building the autonomy platform for the ocean with mass-deployable, fully autonomous surface and subsea robots with dual-domain, read-and-write capabilities. Our oceans are in trouble; we’ve neglected them, and we allow bad actors to misuse them. Ulysses will manage our oceans effectively, persistently, and cheaply. We're developing autonomous surface and subsea drones, robotics, and AI systems to tackle critical challenges across nature, infrastructure, and maritime security. Our first product line is a suite of autonomous drones and attachments that makes restoring seagrass ecosystems cheaper and easier. We are currently working with governments in the US and Australia and leading environmental groups like The Nature Conservancy. We are a Series A company backed by top VCs.

About the Role

We're looking for a CNC Machinist to join our machine shop in San Francisco. You'll be making real parts that go into real robots - one week it's a one-off prototype bracket the engineering team needs by Friday, the next it's a production run of pressure vessels going to the bottom of the ocean.

The core of the job is the loop: CAM the part in Fusion 360, run it on our Haas machines, measure what came off, and take what you learned back into the program until the job is dialled in and repeatable. You'll own that whole loop yourself - you're not handing a program to someone else to run, or handing a part to someone else to inspect. You'll also build your own fixtures and sit close enough to the engineers that your feedback actually changes the drawings.

If you've got a few years under your belt and you're tired of running the same part for the ten thousandth time, this is the opposite of that. And we care more about how you think about parts than how many years you've been making them - if you're a strong recent graduate of a machining or manufacturing technology program, or you came up through an apprenticeship, and you can already CAM and measure, we want to talk to you. We'll train you on the rest.

What You’ll Do

• CAM the job in Fusion 360: Take a model from engineering and build the toolpaths -

• 3-axis and 5-axis milling and turning - with sound tooling, workholding, and strategy choices behind them

• Run our Haas machines: Set up, prove out, and run the job: offsets, work coordinates, tool library, first article through production

• Measure what you made: Inspect and qualify your own parts - calipers, micrometers, indicators, bore gauges, height gauge, CMM - and own the first article inspection that goes with them

• Close the loop: Take what the measurements tell you back into the program and the setup: adjust offsets, tweak toolpaths and feeds and speeds, fix the fixture, and lock the job in so it repeats

• Design and build your own workholding and fixturing: for one-offs and for repeatable production

• Work directly with our engineers to give DFM feedback and get parts production-ready

• Keep the shop running well: preventative maintenance, tooling and material stock, coolant, organization

• Help us build out the processes, documentation, and quality practices as the shop scales

About you:

Requirements

• Strong in Fusion 360 CAM: You can take a model and build the toolpaths yourself - you understand tool selection, feeds and speeds, stepover and engagement, and why a strategy that looks fine on screen might chatter or break a tool in the machine

• Comfortable running Haas machines: Setups, offsets, work coordinates, tool library, proving out a program safely, and reading G-code well enough to edit at the control when you need to

• Strong metrology fundamentals: You're well acquainted with calipers, micrometers, indicators, gauge pins, and bore gauges; you know when a measurement is lying to you; you understand repeatability, tool wear, and thermal effects; and you inspect to print rather than to feel. CMM experience is a big plus

• You close the loop between measuring and programming: When a feature comes out over, you know whether the answer is an offset, a different toolpath, a stiffer setup, or a conversation with the engineer

• You can read and work from GD&T: datums, position, profile, and what they actually mean for how you hold and check a part 2-3 years of hands-on CNC experience in a machine shop, or a strong record from a machining / manufacturing technology program or apprenticeship

• Some 5-axis experience, or the appetite to pick it up quickly - we'll teach you

• Solid instincts on fixturing: you can figure out how to hold a part and make it repeatable

• Can navigate CAD in SolidWorks or Onshape

• You can point to machining work you've done in the past that you're proud of

• You're obsessed with quality

• You embrace a gotta go fast mindset and refuse to settle for "good enough"

• You're capable of working autonomously in a dynamic environment - this is a startup shop, not a job shop with a dispatcher

Nice-to-haves

• Simultaneous 5-axis toolpath programming in Fusion 360

• Hands-on CMM programming and operation

• Comfortable editing G-code directly, and building or tweaking post-processors

• Experience working in an MES or shop-floor traveler system

• Experience machining aluminum, stainless, and plastics for marine or subsea environments

• Exposure to production runs — line balancing, running to takt, first article inspection

• Familiarity with ISO-9001 quality processes and gauge R&R

• Sheet metal, welding, or general fabrication skills

• Licensed forklift operator

• An obsession with good workflows, processes, and organization to keep the shop streamlined as we grow

Think you're our next teammate? Apply and let us know what sets you apart and why you should work on the Ulysses team!