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Lead AI Research Engineer, Embodied Systems

RoboForce · Milpitas, CA

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Why RoboForce
RoboForce is an AI robotics company developing Physical AI–powered Robo-Labor for dull, dirty, and dangerous work. The company's robots are engineered for demanding industrial environments, with a focus on real-world deployment and scalability.
 
We are looking for a Lead AI Research Engineer, Embodied Systems to lead and own the engineering of the systems that turn embodied AI into real-world robot behavior. You will be the technical owner and lead for the full embodied systems stack — the onboard AI system, the data collection system, the teleoperation systems, and the on-robot reinforcement learning system — driving the direction hands-on and closing the loop between data, models, and action in the physical world.
 
Responsibilities
  • Lead and own, from the engineering side, the embodied systems that power RoboForce's data flywheel — the onboard AI (inference) system, the data collection system, the teleoperation systems and the on-robot reinforcement learning system.
  • Set the technical direction and architecture for how learned models run, are evaluated, and improve on real robots.
  • Deliver these systems end-to-end on physical robots — from bring-up through reliable, real-time operation in demanding industrial environments.
  • Own on-robot deployment and closed-loop evaluation of policies, turning real-world performance into measurable improvements.
  • Partner with and influence the robotics software team and the ML research team to align interfaces and priorities across the stack.
  • Grow the direction — mentor engineers and raise the technical bar for embodied systems work.
Requirements
  • Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Robotics, Electrical Engineering, or related field with significant relevant experience, or a PhD degree.
  • Track record of leading complex robotic or embodied systems end-to-end and setting technical direction for other engineers.
  • Strong proficiency in both C++ and Python, with solid systems programming and real-time / performance-critical engineering skills.
  • Hands-on experience with ROS/ROS2 and robot middleware, including real-time integration of sensing, control, and compute.
  • Experience integrating and deploying ML models/policies into real-time robotic or autonomous systems — system ownership and building, rather than model training or research.
  • Requires 5 days/week in-office collaboration with the teams.
Bonus Qualifications
  • Experience with teleoperation and data-collection systems (e.g., VR, UR, GELLO, UMI) and the challenges of collecting high-quality robot data at scale.
  • Experience with on-robot reinforcement learning or closed-loop policy-improvement systems.
  • Familiarity with robot learning policies (VLA, imitation learning, behavior cloning) and their real-time inference and control-integration characteristics.
  • Familiarity with manipulation stacks, whole-body control interfaces, or real-time middleware tuning.
Benefits
  • Competitive stock options/equity programs.
  • Health, dental, and vision insurance, 401(k) plan.
  • Visa sponsorship and green card support for qualified candidates.
  • Lunches and dinners, a fully stocked kitchen, and regular team-building events.

 

Salary Range: $190,000–$265,000 USD
 
The base salary range above represents the expected compensation for this full-time U.S. position. Final compensation will be determined based on role scope, level, location, job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training, and may fall outside the listed range in exceptional cases.
 
This role is also eligible for performance bonuses and equity compensation.

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