Help us teach robots to do things they've never done before.Janicki Industries | Sedro-Woolley, Washington | Full-TimeOnsite, Hybrid and Remote opportunities available | $120,000-$220,000 annuallyWe're building robots that learn from people, practice in simulation, and develop the ability to perform useful work in the real world.
A Different Kind of FactoryJanicki has committed to building an $800 million advanced manufacturing facility in Montana to produce precision metallic components for the aerospace and defense industries. Ground has already been broken on the first building.
We're designing the facility around a high level of automation. The first phase is expected to include dozens of five-axes milling machines, automated warehouses, robotic material loading, automated coordinate measuring machines, and automated metal finishing and coating systems. Massive robotic vehicles will move pallets weighing as much as 40,000 pounds throughout the factory.
But what makes this project particularly interesting isn't just the scale.
Most factory automation is designed to do the same thing, over and over, at high speed. Our challenges are different. We manufacture highly complex parts in relatively small quantities, often with significant differences from one job to the next.
This is high-mix, low-volume manufacturing, and it presents an entirely different set of robotics problems.
We need robots that can recognize unfamiliar parts, understand changing environments, adapt to different tasks, and work alongside sophisticated manufacturing equipment. Many of the capabilities we want simply don't exist as ready-made solutions.
We see enormous potential in combining modern AI, computer vision, robot learning, and simulation to solve these problems. Our goal is to make this one of the most advanced and flexible manufacturing facilities in the world.
You'll have an opportunity to help develop the technology that makes it possible.Teaching Robots to LearnOur robotics team is exploring a new approach to automation: rather than programming every movement, we want to teach robots through human demonstrations, train neural networks to reproduce those behaviors, and use simulation to help them learn and improve.
We're interested in the rapidly developing world of vision-language-action models, imitation learning, reinforcement learning, and robotic foundation models such as NVIDIA Isaac GR00T.
We're also developing robots for applications outside traditional manufacturing. One of our first projects is an autonomous robot that cleans horse stalls using cameras, a robotic arm, and specialized tools. It's a deceptively difficult problem involving visual perception, object manipulation, and decision-making in an unpredictable environment.
These projects share an important goal: creating robots that can perform useful physical work without having every action programmed in advance.
We've assembled a team of mechanical, electrical, and software engineers and are looking for an AI engineer who wants to help develop the intelligence behind these machines.
What You'll DoYou'll work on the technologies that allow robots to learn new skills and apply them to physical tasks.
- Robot Learning: Develop and train neural networks that translate visual information and human demonstrations into robotic actions. Work with imitation learning, reinforcement learning, and modern robot foundation models.
- Vision-Language-Action Models: Build training pipelines using camera data and human teleoperation. Explore and adapt VLA approaches, including NVIDIA Isaac GR00T, to teach robots new manipulation skills.
- Simulation: Use NVIDIA Isaac Sim, Isaac Lab, and Omniverse to create realistic environments, generate training data, and train and evaluate robotic behaviors before deploying them to physical hardware.
- Computer Vision: Develop perception systems that allow robots to recognize objects, understand their surroundings, and make decisions based on visual information. Apply technologies such as YOLO, image segmentation, and depth sensing.
- Real-World Deployment: Work alongside our robotics, mechanical, and electrical engineers to bring trained models onto actual machines, evaluate their performance, and continually improve their capabilities.
You'll help shape our technical approach, select the tools and models we use, and determine how emerging AI technologies can be applied to real manufacturing and automation problems.
What We're Looking ForWe're looking for an exceptionally capable engineer who enjoys difficult problems, learns quickly, and takes pride in making things work.
You'll bring a strong foundation in machine learning, software engineering, or robotics, along with meaningful hands-on experience in at least one of these areas:
- Robotics simulation and learning environments, particularly NVIDIA Isaac Sim, Isaac Lab, Omniverse, or similar platforms.
- Training neural networks for robotic manipulation, imitation learning, reinforcement learning, or learning from human demonstrations.
- Computer vision and perception, including object detection, segmentation, and models such as YOLO.
- Developing and training AI models using Python, PyTorch, or comparable frameworks.
We're especially interested in engineers who have worked with vision-language-action models, teleoperation-based training, NVIDIA Isaac GR00T, or robotic systems that learn through experience.
A strong academic background in computer science, robotics, AI, or a related engineering discipline is valuable. We appreciate the preparation that comes from demanding university programs and excellent research environments. We're equally interested in people who have demonstrated exceptional ability by building and delivering impressive systems.
What matters most is your technical ability, your accomplishments, and the way you approach challenging engineering problems.
You don't need experience with every technology listed here. If you've done outstanding work in one of these areas and are excited to expand into the others, we'd like to meet you.
2+ years of relevant engineering experience spanning robotics and AI. (Preferred)
Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science, or closely related field from an ABET-accredited. (Required)
Work Where You Want to LiveOur headquarters is in Sedro-Woolley, Washington, in the beautiful Skagit Valley at the edge of the North Cascades.
For people who love the outdoors, this part of Western Washington is hard to beat. Hiking, mountain biking, skiing at Mount Baker, kayaking, fishing, and exploring the San Juan Islands are all within reach. Bellingham offers a lively university town with restaurants, music, and outdoor recreation, while Seattle provides the cultural and professional opportunities of a major technology center.
We'd love to find someone in the greater Seattle or Puget Sound area who can spend occasional time working with our team and physical hardware in Sedro-Woolley.
We're also open to hybrid and remote candidates, including engineers in the San Francisco Bay Area. Monthly visits to our Washington facilities will help keep you connected to the team and the machines we're developing.
CompensationThe proposed annual base salary range is
$120,000-$220,000, plus a discretionary bonus, 401(k) matching, vacation, and health benefits. Depending on experience and qualifications, subject to final approval.
The actual salary will vary by geographic region and job experience. We will share detailed compensation data for a specific location during the recruiting processBenefits- Medical, Dental, and Vision insurance with employer contribution
- Disability insurance as well as Life/AD&D insurance
- HSA (Health Savings Account) with employer contribution and FSA (Flexible Savings Account)
- 401k with employer matching
- Paid time off and paid holidays (including two floating holidays)
- Education reimbursement program
- Several shift options
- Premium pay for off-shifts
- Premium pay for security clearance if applicable
Not sure that you'll be the perfect fit for this role? You should still apply! We'll review your application for other opportunities. We are always on the lookout for talented people!By applying for this job, you are expressing interest in this position and could be considered for other career opportunities where similar skills and requirements have been identified as a match. Should this match be identified, you may be contacted for this and future openings.
