Robotics Coach

Position Overview

University Preparatory Academy is seeking an enthusiastic and experienced Robotics Team Coach to serve as a technical advisor and mentor for our student robotics team.

The ideal candidate has an engineering background and a passion for helping students develop their technical, problem-solving, teamwork, and leadership skills through hands-on robotics experiences.

The Robotics Team Coach will provide technical guidance throughout the robot design and implementation process while maintaining a student-led environment. The coach's primary role is to advise, teach, and mentor; final design and competition decisions will remain with the team's student leaders.

The coach will also provide adult supervision during team activities, accompany students to competitions, and assist with competition preparation and logistics.

Key Responsibilities

Technical Advising & Engineering

• Guide students through the design, assembly, testing, and software development of the robot.
• Provide guidance on engineering design principles, processes, and real-world feasibility during brainstorming and design discussions.
• Review student designs and provide constructive feedback using CAD software such as Onshape.
• Guide students through the assembly and integration of hardware components.
• Help students develop competency with new tools, fabrication methods, and manufacturing processes.
• Provide training and oversight when students operate fabrication equipment and power tools, including laser cutters, CNC machining equipment, bandsaws, and other shop tools.

Student Mentorship

• Create an environment where students take ownership of the engineering and problem-solving process.
• Encourage students to learn through experimentation, iteration, successes, and failures.
• Support the development of students' technical knowledge, independence, collaboration, and leadership.
• Maintain an advisory and instructional role rather than completing the design, fabrication, assembly, programming, or competition work on behalf of students.
• Support student leaders while allowing final team decisions to remain student-driven.

Team & Competition Support

• Provide responsible adult supervision during robotics team meetings and activities.
• Assist students with preparation for robotics competitions.
• Accompany and supervise the team at competitions.
• Support competition-related planning and logistics as needed.

Pay: $22.00 - $25.00 per hour

Expected hours: 15.0 – 30.0 per week

Work Location: In person