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Senior Robotics Engineer, Mission Autonomy

FieldAI

Senior Robotics Engineer, Mission Autonomy

Posted An Hour Ago

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Irvine, CA, USA

In-Office

180K-220K Annually

Senior level

Artificial Intelligence • Robotics

Transforming industrial operations through physically embodied robotic AI and superhuman autonomy.

The Role

Design and implement mission autonomy systems for real-world robots, including perception-aware planning, VLM-based long-horizon reasoning, task replanning, failure recovery, and multi-robot coordination. Develop reliable autonomy software using Python, C++, ROS, and related tools, while supporting testing, safety, performance, and deployment on real robotic hardware.

Summary Generated by Built In

FieldAI’s Irvine team is where embodied AI meets real robots, real sensors, and real field deployments. Based in the heart of Southern California’s robotics ecosystem, we build risk-aware, reliable, field-ready AI systems that solve the hardest problems in robotics and unlock the full potential of embodied intelligence. If you want your work to ship, get tested on hardware, and improve through real deployments, Irvine is the place. We go beyond typical data-driven approaches or pure transformer-only architectures, combining rigorous engineering with learning systems proven in globally deployed solutions that deliver results today and get better every time our robots run in the field.

Who are We

Field AI is transforming how robots interact with the real world. We are building risk-aware, reliable, and field-ready AI systems that address the most complex challenges in robotics, unlocking the full potential of embodied intelligence. We go beyond typical data-driven approaches or pure transformer-based architectures, and are charting a new course, with already-globally-deployed solutions delivering real-world results and rapidly improving models through real-field applications.

Learn more at https://fieldai.com.

About the Job

Field AI is seeking a rigorous and innovative Senior Robotic Autonomy Engineer for Mission Autonomy to play a vital role in the development of highly advanced robotic and AI systems by designing and implementing intelligent decision-making frameworks. Your contribution is essential to advancing our autonomous robotic platforms and delivering cutting-edge AI-driven solutions to customers. This is a unique career opportunity to join a rapidly growing company and contribute to the success of enterprise clients in a dynamic, fast-paced environment.

What You’ll Get To Do

Perception-Aware Mission Autonomy: Couple runtime perception outputs (e.g. semantic 3D scene understanding) with world information, to create a unified semantic scene graph that enables perception-aware real-time mission planning and execution with spatial reasoning, feasibility validation, online task replanning, and natural language driven robotic autonomy.

VLM-Based Long-Horizon Reasoning: Design and implement a VLM-based mission controller that observes the robot's camera view and scene graph, reasons about mission progress, and selects actions from reusable primitives and tools, with step verification, failure detection and recovery, online replanning, and feedback handling for natural language driven long-horizon missions.

Multi-Robot Mission Autonomy: Support the development of a multi-robot mission autonomy framework for task allocation, execution monitoring, and coordination across heterogeneous robots, and expand the robotics testing framework through unit and integration tests to ensure system reliability, safety, and performance.

What You Have

PhD in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Robotics, or a related field.

Advanced proficiency in Python programming, C++, ROS/ROS 2, Linux, Git, Docker

5+ years experience with AI-driven autonomy software deployed on real robots (e.g. task and motion planning, VLM/LLM-based planners, state machines, behavior trees) and low-level robotic manipulation skills

Ability to effectively and efficiently communicate with all teams, and to lead technical efforts across them

Strong problem-solving skills and proven ability to navigate complex software systems

Strong work ethic, highly self-motivated, and able to work independently while managing multiple priorities

The Extras That Set You Apart

Experience with simulation environments (e.g., Gazebo, Isaac Sim)

Experience with heterogeneous multi-robot systems (UGV, UAV, mobile manipulator)

Experience with LLM/VLM-based long-horizon planning and failure recovery in robotic systems

Our salary range is generous and we consider each individual’s background and experience when determining final compensation. Base pay may vary based on role scope, job-related knowledge, skills, experience, and the Irvine, California market.

Why Join FieldAI in Irvine?

In Irvine, you will work where the robots are. Our local team builds and tests systems on real hardware with real sensors, then ships them to operate in unstructured, previously unknown environments around the world. We are solving one of robotics’ hardest challenges: reliable deployment outside the lab. Our Field Foundational Models™ raise the bar for perception, planning, localization, and manipulation, with an emphasis on explainability and safety for real-world use.

You will collaborate with a world-class team that thrives on creativity, resilience, and bold thinking. We bring deep experience from organizations such as DeepMind, NASA JPL, Boston Dynamics, NVIDIA, Amazon, Tesla Autopilot, Cruise, Zoox, Toyota Research Institute, and SpaceX, along with a track record of field deployments and strong performance in DARPA challenge segments.

Be Part of the Next Robotics Revolution

We are looking for builders who want their work to leave the whiteboard and show up on robots. If you enjoy tackling tough, uncharted questions and working across disciplines, you will find your people here. Our teams span AI, software, robotics engineering, product, field deployment, and technical communication, all focused on shipping systems that perform in the real world.

Our headquarters is in Irvine, and we partner closely with teams there as well as colleagues across the US and around the world. Join us in Southern California and help define what dependable, field-ready autonomy looks like.

We value diverse perspectives and are committed to fostering an inclusive workplace. We evaluate candidates and employees based on merit, qualifications, and performance, and we do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, gender, national origin, ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, or any other legally protected status.

Skills Required

PhD in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Robotics, or a related field
Advanced proficiency in Python programming
Advanced proficiency in C++
Advanced proficiency with ROS or ROS 2
Advanced proficiency with Linux
Advanced proficiency with Git
Advanced proficiency with Docker
5+ years of experience with AI-driven autonomy software deployed on real robots
Experience with task and motion planning, VLM or LLM-based planners, state machines, or behavior trees
Low-level robotic manipulation skills
Ability to communicate effectively and lead technical efforts across teams
Strong problem-solving skills and ability to navigate complex software systems
Experience with simulation environments such as Gazebo or Isaac Sim
Experience with heterogeneous multi-robot systems, including UGVs, UAVs, or mobile manipulators
Experience with LLM or VLM-based long-horizon planning and failure recovery in robotic systems

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The Company

HQ: Irvine, California

104 Employees

Year Founded: 2016

What We Do

FieldAI is pioneering the development of a field-proven, hardware agnostic brain technology that enables many different types of robots to operate autonomously in hazardous, offroad, and potentially harsh industrial settings – all without GPS, maps, or any pre-programmed routes.