Research Engineer / Research Scientist — Robotics & Physical AI

About this role

ABOUT THE ROLE

Join 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 FOR

Required:

- 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.