Co-op, User Experience - Robotics (Jan - Apr 2027)

Rockwell Automation is a global technology leader focused on helping the world’s manufacturers be more productive, sustainable, and agile. With more than 28,000 employees who make the world better every day, we know we have something special. Behind our customers - amazing companies that help feed the world, provide life-saving medicine on a global scale, and focus on clean water and green mobility - our people are energized problem solvers that take pride in how the work we do changes the world for the better.

We welcome all makers, forward thinkers, and problem solvers who are looking for a place to do their best work. And if that’s you we would love to have you join us!

Job Description

The User Experience (UX) Robotics Co-op is a role within our Robotics Center of Excellence (RCoE). It is the "innovation engine" of Rockwell Automation robotics.

The UX Co-op is eager to shape how humans and robots interact at the frontier of autonomous operations. You will join the UX team inside a technical robotics research group. You will contribute across user experience research, interaction prototyping, and the design of new ways for people to work with intelligent machines.

This isn't a "make the screens pretty" role. We're thinking about how humans, robots, and machines talk to each other through interfaces, through behavior, through whatever modality turns out to make sense. Some of what we do is traditional UX; but a lot of it doesn't yet have a name.

This role is not eligible for relocation assistance.

Your Responsibilities:

• Design Contribution: Contribute to ongoing work in human-robot interaction, operator interfaces, and integrating robots into enterprise tools.

• UX Research: Frame the question, design the study, talk to operators and partners, summarize what you find, and bring it back as something the team can act on.

• Interaction Prototyping: Explore and prototype new modes of interaction with robotic systems; voice, gesture, ambient signals, chat-based agent control, spatial, etc.

• Design Critique & Collaboration: Bring your work to the team early and often. Defend your decisions, absorb feedback from designers, researchers, and engineers, and work through peer review.

• Sharing: Document your process and findings through case studies, internal research reports, and external publications or talks.

The Essentials - You Will Have:

• Actively pursuing a bachelors or advanced degree from an accredited college or university.

The Preferred - You Might Also Have:

• Must graduate in December 2027 or later
• Comfort designing and running UX research

• Comfort with coding, vibe coding, prototyping, and large language models

• Interest in robots, autonomous systems, or how AI is changing the shape of human-machine interaction.

• Experience with a multi-discipline team, in-person and online.

• Experience with Figma or equivalent design tools
• Experience with ROS/ROS2
• Familiarity with research repository tools like Dovetail
• Prototyping experience in React or similar frameworks
• AR, VR, or spatial computing experience
• Experience with research, parsing academic publications, and literature review
• Background in human factors, HCI, or interaction design research
• Experience engaging with design or research communities through writing, talks, or open work
• Located within 50 miles from the Waterloo location. Must be able to be in the office at least 3 days a week.

What We Offer:

• Health Insurance including Medical and Dental
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Paid holidays off

This position is part of a job family. Experience will be the determining factor for position level and compensation.

For this role, the hourly compensation is from $20-$32. Actual pay will be based on factors such as skills, knowledge, education, and experience.

This posting is for an existing vacancy within our organization.

At Rockwell Automation we are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive and authentic workplace, so if you're excited about this role but your experience doesn't align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.

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We are an Equal Opportunity Employer including disability and veterans.

If you are an individual with a disability and you need assistance or a reasonable accommodation during the application process, please contact our services team at +1 (519) 618-4899.

Rockwell Automation’s hybrid policy aligns that employees are expected to work at a Rockwell location at least Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays unless they have a business obligation out of the office.