Research Engineer / Research Scientist — Robotics & Physical AI

About the Role Join a Y Combinator–backed Physical AI startup at the frontier of robotics research and development. This team is building AI-driven systems that enable robots to learn, reason, and operate in the physical world — spanning learning algorithms, simulation, and hardware. You'll work on problems that directly shape how robots perceive, plan, and act, pushing capabilities from simulation into real-world deployment. This is a hands-on, cross-functional role suited to people who are equally comfortable writing research code, running hardware experiments, and shipping infrastructure. New graduates and experienced researchers/engineers are both welcome to apply. What You'll Do Develop learning systems for robots, including policies, world models, and vision-language-action models. Build and maintain simulation environments and evaluation frameworks for robotic tasks. Apply and advance computer vision and perception algorithms for autonomous robots. Design pipelines connecting simulation and real-world robot deployment (real-to-sim and sim-to-real workflows). Work with robot hardware, sensors, actuators, and embedded systems to prototype and test capabilities. Train and evaluate reinforcement-learning and imitation-learning systems for manipulation, locomotion, or mobile platforms. Integrate and experiment with robot platforms to validate algorithms in the physical world. Create tools and infrastructure that accelerate robotics research and development velocity. Collaborate with external robotics companies and research labs on technical challenges. What We're Looking For Required: Experience developing and maintaining robotics simulation environments and evaluation frameworks (e.g., Isaac Lab, MuJoCo, MJX, Genesis). Hands-on experience training and evaluating reinforcement-learning and/or imitation-learning systems for manipulation, locomotion, or mobile platforms. Practical experience with robot hardware, sensors, actuators, and embedded systems for prototyping and testing. Strong software skills in C++ and Python . Deep learning and computer vision experience in a robotics or physical AI context. US work authorization required (visa sponsorship is not available). Ability to work on-site in San Francisco, CA (this role is not remote). Nice to Have: Experience with modern ML tools and models — LLMs, Transformers, multimodal AI, diffusion models, AI agents. Familiarity with CAD or Blender for asset creation and sim environment design. Comfort moving fluidly between research, engineering, experimentation, and product development in a small team. Compensation & Benefits Salary: $100,000 – $300,000 USD annually, depending on experience and seniority. Equity participation in an early-stage, venture-backed startup. Location On-site in San Francisco, CA — this role requires in-person presence and is not eligible for remote work. US work authorization is required; visa sponsorship is not available.