The Role
Lead the engineering and technical direction of embodied AI systems for physical robots, including onboard inference, data collection, teleoperation, and on-robot reinforcement learning. Deploy and evaluate learned policies in real time, integrate sensing, control, and compute, improve the data-to-action loop, collaborate across robotics and ML teams, and mentor engineers.
Summary Generated by Built In
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 Staff Research Engineer, Robot Learning 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.
Compensation: Salary $225,000–$265,000 USD + Bonus + Equity
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.
Skills Required
- Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Robotics, Electrical Engineering, or a related field with significant relevant experience, or a PhD
- Track record leading complex robotic or embodied systems end-to-end
- Experience setting technical direction for other engineers
- Strong proficiency in C++ and Python
- Strong systems programming and real-time or performance-critical engineering skills
- Hands-on experience with ROS or ROS2 and robot middleware
- Experience integrating and deploying ML models or policies into real-time robotic or autonomous systems
- Experience with teleoperation and data-collection systems
- Experience with on-robot reinforcement learning or closed-loop policy-improvement systems
- Familiarity with robot learning policies, including VLA, imitation learning, or behavior cloning
- Familiarity with manipulation stacks, whole-body control interfaces, or real-time middleware tuning
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The Company
What We Do
RoboForce, an AI-Robotics company, is building a first-of-its-kind Robotic Workforce System to take on the most tedious, force-demanding, and dangerous work humans don't have to do
