Principal Robotics AI Engineer

Our client is a fast-growing, innovation-driven company working at the forefront of robotics and AI. Their mission is to build advanced autonomous robotic systems capable of operating in real-world environments. They combine expertise in machine learning, computer vision, and robotics to solve complex problems in perception, manipulation, and task planning.

Their teams are composed of highly skilled engineers and researchers who thrive on tackling cutting-edge challenges, engaging in deep technical discussions, and building systems that move from research to real-world production. They value independence, technical excellence, and the ability to deliver in fast-paced, experimental environments.

About the Role:

We are seeking a Principal Robotics AI Engineer for our client. In this role, you will lead the technical development of AI-based robotic systems with a strong focus on dexterous manipulation, perception, and task planning.

You will play a key role in designing and improving data pipelines, working with egocentric datasets, and applying modern AI approaches such as VLA, RL, and VLMs to real-world robotics problems. This is a highly impactful role where you will help shape both the AI systems and the underlying data infrastructure that powers them.

Responsibilities:

• Lead the development of AI-driven autonomous robotic systems with a focus on dexterous manipulation and task planning;
• Build and maintain egocentric data pipelines, including data collection, annotation, and quality assurance at scale;
• Apply VLA, reinforcement learning, and VLM-based approaches to manipulation tasks in industrial, retail, and household environments;
• Collaborate with robotics labs to understand data and pipeline requirements and deliver high-quality training datasets;
• Contribute to perception and machine learning systems deployed on physical robots operating in complex real-world environments;
• Help define and guide the technical direction of AI tooling and data infrastructure;
• Drive technical decisions and work independently to deliver production-ready solutions.

Requirements:

• 5+ years of hands-on experience in robotics AI, ideally at companies or labs such as Boston Dynamics, Figure, Tesla Optimus, Apptronik, or similar;
• Strong expertise in perception and ML systems for autonomous robots, including computer vision, 2D/3D scene understanding, object detection, and manipulation;
• Experience with VLA models, reinforcement learning, and VLM-based task planning in real-world deployments;
• Deep understanding of egocentric video data and how manipulation datasets are structured for robot learning;
• Proven ability to lead technical work independently and deliver in production environments;
• Strong problem-solving skills and ability to work in fast-paced, cutting-edge environments;
• PhD or equivalent industry experience in ML, robotics, computer vision, or a related field.

Nice to Have:

• Experience with ROS or similar robotics middleware;
• Background in remote sensing, GIS, or multi-modal data systems;
• Familiarity with synthetic data generation or sim-to-real transfer;
• Experience with DARPA, government research programs, or applied AI research labs.

We Offer:

• Competitive market salary
• Fully remote work
• Convenient and somewhat flexible working hours
• 28 days of paid time off per calendar year
• The chance to work on meaningful, socially valuable products alongside a highly professional, international team
• Interesting technical challenges with opportunities to grow and learn