About the RoleJoin a Y Combinator-backed Physical AI startup at the frontier of robotics research and development. This team is building AI-driven systems that enable robots to learn, reason, and operate in the physical world - spanning learning algorithms, simulation, and hardware. You'll work on problems that directly shape how robots perceive, plan, and act, pushing capabilities from simulation into real-world deployment.
This is a hands-on, cross-functional role suited to people who are equally comfortable writing research code, running hardware experiments, and shipping infrastructure. New graduates and experienced researchers/engineers are both welcome to apply.
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.
- Design pipelines connecting simulation and real-world robot deployment (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 and experiment with robot platforms to validate algorithms in the physical world.
- Create tools and infrastructure that accelerate robotics research and development velocity.
- Collaborate with external robotics companies and research labs on technical challenges.
What We're Looking ForRequired:- Experience developing and maintaining robotics simulation environments and evaluation frameworks (e.g., Isaac Lab, MuJoCo, MJX, Genesis).
- Hands-on experience training and evaluating reinforcement-learning and/or imitation-learning systems for manipulation, locomotion, or mobile platforms.
- Practical experience with robot hardware, sensors, actuators, and embedded systems for prototyping and testing.
- Strong software skills in C++ and Python.
- Deep learning and computer vision experience in a robotics or physical AI context.
- US work authorization required (visa sponsorship is not available).
- Ability to work on-site in San Francisco, CA (this role is not remote).
Nice to Have:- Experience with modern ML tools and models - LLMs, Transformers, multimodal AI, diffusion models, AI agents.
- Familiarity with CAD or Blender for asset creation and sim environment design.
- Comfort moving fluidly between research, engineering, experimentation, and product development in a small team.
Compensation & Benefits- Salary: $100,000 - $300,000 USD annually, depending on experience and seniority.
- Equity participation in an early-stage, venture-backed startup.
Location- On-site in San Francisco, CA - this role requires in-person presence and is not eligible for remote work.
- US work authorization is required; visa sponsorship is not available.
