Founding Robotics ML Research Engineer
- Location Boston
- Expertise Robotics
- Job Type Permanent
- Salary $ 140,000 per annum
Founding Robotics ML Research Engineer
Location: [Redacted]
Company: Venture-backed Robotics Startup (YC-backed)
About the Company
A fast-growing, venture-backed robotics company is building the next generation of autonomous systems designed to monitor and maintain critical digital infrastructure.
Founded by engineers from top robotics institutions and industry-leading organizations, the team brings deep expertise across defense, logistics, agriculture, and industrial inspection.
Their mission is to deploy intelligent, dependable robotic systems into real-world environments that underpin the global digital economy.
The Role
As a Founding Robotics ML Research Engineer, you’ll operate at the intersection of cutting-edge research and real-world deployment. This is a highly hands-on role focused on taking state-of-the-art machine learning approaches and turning them into robust, production-ready robotic systems.
You’ll play a key role in shaping both the technical direction and the engineering culture of the company.
What You’ll Do
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Develop and deploy learning-based policies (e.g. behavior cloning, reinforcement learning) for complex robotic manipulation tasks
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Build and scale infrastructure for data collection, model training, and real-time system operation
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Translate advanced robotics and ML research into practical, high-performance systems deployed in real environments
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Work across the full stack, from model development through to on-robot execution
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Collaborate closely with a small, high-caliber team in a fast-paced, experimental environment
What We’re Looking For
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Background in Robotics, Computer Science, Machine Learning, or related field (MS/PhD preferred)
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Experience with modern ML approaches for robotics (e.g. diffusion policies, vision-language-action models)
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Proven experience deploying ML-based perception or control systems on physical robots
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Strong understanding of robotics fundamentals including manipulation, control, and motion planning
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Experience with standard ML tooling, frameworks, and workflows
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Comfortable operating in early-stage environments with high ownership and ambiguity
Nice to Have
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Publications in top-tier conferences (e.g. robotics, ML, or computer vision)
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Experience with embedded AI or edge deployment
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Background in real-world robot deployment in industrial environments
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Familiarity with teleoperation systems or human-in-the-loop training
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Contributions to open-source robotics or ML projects
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Exposure to tactile sensing or advanced manipulation systems
Why Join
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Founding-level impact with ownership over both technical direction and culture
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Opportunity to work on real-world robotics problems with immediate deployment
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No legacy systems, minimal bureaucracy, high autonomy
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Build systems that directly impact critical global infrastructure
Additional Info
We’re looking for exceptional builders, not checklist candidates. If you thrive in fast-moving environments and care about turning research into reality, this is the kind of team where you’ll do your best work.
