Figure AI Hires Human to Oversee Humanoid Robots Overnight

Silicon Valley robotics startup Figure AI is hiring a night-shift coordinator in Santa Clara to supervise its humanoid robots while most workers are asleep. The contract-to-hire position pays $40 to $45 per hour and runs from 10:30 p.m. to 7 a.m., including weekend shifts. The role combines team scheduling, troubleshooting, safety oversight, and hands-on robot operation, reflecting the ongoing need for human judgment in the development and deployment of advanced robotics systems. The job posting describes the work as physically demanding, requiring the coordinator to be on their feet for much of the shift and capable of lifting, carrying, and maneuvering equipment or humanoid hardware weighing up to 50 pounds. The coordinator would also be responsible for addressing robot failures and operational issues, prioritizing tasks, maintaining systems for real commercial use cases, and providing the day team with an accurate overnight status update. Figure’s search for human supervisors comes as the humanoid robotics sector attracts increasing investment and corporate competition. Investors poured $33.4 billion into robotics and physical AI companies worldwide in the first half of the year, according to PitchBook data, surpassing the total raised by the sector in all of 2025 and marking a sharp rise from just under $5 billion in 2020. The market has also seen public-market activity, with Figure rival Agility Robotics recently going public through a special-purpose acquisition company merger. Founded in 2022, Figure is valued at around $39 billion after a $1 billion Series C round led by Parkway Venture Capital. The company has positioned itself as a provider of robotics resources for labor-intensive work in sectors such as manufacturing, shipping, logistics, warehousing, and retail, where labor shortages are particularly severe. Its stated long-term vision is for robots to perform repetitive tasks first, then take on increasingly complex roles, potentially reducing human involvement and lowering costs as machines become capable of more autonomous operation. For now, however, Figure’s hiring needs make clear that humanoid robots remain highly dependent on human maintenance, coordination, and problem-solving. The night-shift coordinator role highlights the transitional phase of the robotics industry: companies are pushing toward autonomous labor, but they still need people to keep the machines running safely and reliably overnight.