Research Engineer / Research Scientist, Robotics and Physical AI

About the Role

This is a hands-on research and engineering role at an early-stage AI data company focused on robotics and physical AI. You will work across learning algorithms, simulation, and hardware to push robot capabilities from simulation into real-world deployment, shaping how robots perceive, plan, and act.

What You'll Do

• Develop learning systems for robots, including policies, world models, and vision-language-action models.

• Build and maintain simulation environments and evaluation frameworks for robotic tasks.

• Apply and advance computer vision and perception algorithms for autonomous robots.

• Build pipelines connecting simulation and real-world robot deployment across real-to-sim and sim-to-real workflows.

• Work with robot hardware, sensors, actuators, and embedded systems to prototype and test capabilities.

• Train and evaluate reinforcement-learning and imitation-learning systems for manipulation, locomotion, or mobile platforms.

• Integrate robot platforms to validate algorithms in the physical world.

• Create tools and infrastructure that accelerate robotics research and development.

• Collaborate with external robotics companies and research labs on technical challenges.

What We're Looking For

• Strong software skills in C++ and Python.

• Practical experience with deep learning, reinforcement learning, and computer vision.

• Demonstrated hands-on robotics research and engineering experience beyond academic prototypes alone.

• Real-to-sim and sim-to-real workflow experience; familiarity with simulation platforms such as Isaac Lab, MuJoCo, MJX, or Genesis is a plus.

• Hands-on mechanical and hardware engineering experience, including sensors, actuators, CAD, and embedded systems.

• Relevant industry experience in a company environment, not solely university research.

• Comfort operating as an individual contributor with end-to-end ownership in a small, fast-moving team.

• Exposure to modern multimodal AI approaches such as transformers, diffusion models, world models, LLMs, or AI agents is a bonus.

• Background from a recognized company or strong university is preferred; genuine robotics depth is required over adjacent ML experience alone.

• All experience levels welcome, from new graduates to seasoned researchers.

Compensation & Benefits

• Salary: $100,000 to $300,000 annually (USD), depending on experience.

• Visa sponsorship is not available; candidates must be eligible to work in the US.

Location

On-site in San Francisco, California. This role is not remote.