About the RoleJoin a small, high-impact team at an early-stage, Y Combinator-backed AI research company building the data and learning systems that enable robots to perceive, reason, and act in the physical world. This is a rare opportunity to work across the full stack - from learning algorithms and simulation to real hardware - and to do research that ships into real-world deployments.
The team operates at the intersection of Physical AI, embodied intelligence, and high-quality training data, collaborating with leading robotics companies and research labs. All levels of experience are welcome, from new graduates to seasoned researchers and engineers.
What You'll Do- Develop learning systems for robots, including policies, world models, and vision-language-action (VLA) 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 (real-to-sim and sim-to-real).
- Work hands-on with robot hardware, sensors, actuators, and embedded systems to prototype and validate capabilities.
- Train and evaluate reinforcement-learning (RL) and imitation-learning systems for manipulation, locomotion, or mobile platforms.
- Integrate and experiment with robot platforms to validate algorithms in the physical world.
- Create internal tools and infrastructure that accelerate robotics R&D.
- Collaborate with external robotics companies and research labs on technical challenges.
What We're Looking ForRequired:- Eligibility to work in the United States without employer sponsorship (visa sponsorship is not available).
- Ability to work on-site in San Francisco - this role is not remote.
- Strong proficiency in Python and C++.
- Hands-on experience with robotics hardware, sensors, actuators, and embedded systems.
- Practical experience with deep learning, reinforcement learning, and computer vision.
- Experience with real-to-sim and sim-to-real workflows.
- Experience with embodied AI, RL for robotics, or vision-language-action models.
Nice to Have:- Familiarity with simulation platforms such as Isaac Lab, MuJoCo, MJX, Genesis, Gazebo, or PyBullet.
- Experience with CAD tools or Blender for asset creation.
- Exposure to modern ML methods: LLMs, Transformers, multimodal AI, diffusion models, or AI agents.
- Ability to communicate and collaborate effectively with robotics companies and external research labs.
Mindset: You're comfortable moving fluidly between research, engineering, experimentation, and product development in a small, fast-moving team. You want to ship, not just publish.
Compensation & Benefits- Salary: $100,000 - $300,000 USD annually, depending on experience and seniority.
- Early-stage equity opportunity at a seed-stage company backed by a top accelerator.
Location- On-site in San Francisco, CA, USA. Remote work is not available for this role.
- Visa sponsorship is not available; candidates must be authorized to work in the US.
