Research Engineer - Robotics

RAI Institute; Zürich; On-site; CHF 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

RAI Institute in Zürich is seeking Research Engineers who are generalists with depth, capable of spanning simulation, learning, control, software and hardware. You will take research from simulation to real hardware and work onsite at our Zurich office.

This role emphasizes building scalable robotics pipelines, applying new ideas to working prototypes on real robots, and collaborating with research, hardware and operations teams.

Qualifications

• BS, MS or PhD in robotics, computer science, engineering, mathematics, physics or equivalent practical experience.
• Preferably >2 years of experience.
• System-level thinking: you reason about how software, hardware and algorithms interact, and you can trace a failure across layers.
• Either a research background with deep technical expertise that you enjoy applying to real robots, or experience in applied research: working with R&D teams and using state‑of‑the‑art methods in physical AI.
• A solid understanding of robotics theory and math: kinematics, dynamics, control, estimation and optimization.
• Hands‑on robotics experience: you build, debug and run things yourself, in code and on robots.
• Real hardware experience is highly preferred.
• Strong C++ and Python.
• Strong Linux skills.
• A collaborative mindset, working closely with researchers, engineers and operators.
• Contributions to open‑source robotics software.

Responsibilities

• Work across simulation, learning, control, software and hardware to close the loop between research and real robots.
• Build and improve the stack we use to train, evaluate and deploy robot policies and controllers, in simulation and on hardware.
• Work with research teams to apply new ideas to working prototypes on real robots.
• Make advanced robotics pipelines robust on real robots.
• Set priorities and make sound technical decisions when the problem is ambiguous, and solve real problems alongside researchers.
• Build the software that connects models, agents and robots: libraries, interfaces and tooling.
• Deploy your work on real robots in experiments inside and outside the lab.

Skills

C++

Python

Linux

Robotics

System thinking

Education

BS, MS or PhD in robotics/computer science/engineering

Job description

Our Mission

Our mission is to solve the most important and fundamental challenges in AI and Robotics to enable future generations of intelligent machines that will help us all live better lives.

Our Mission

Our mission is to solve the most important and fundamental challenges in AI and Robotics to enable future generations of intelligent machines that will help us all live better lives.

We work in physical AI, on both existing commercial robots and our own custom hardware, from actuators and sensors to the software that runs them. As a Research Engineer you will work on exciting robots, including custom ones that exist nowhere else, take research from simulation to real hardware, and work directly with our research teams. We are onsite in our Zurich office.

We are looking for multiple Research Engineers who are generalists with depth: roboticists who work across the whole stack and bring real expertise in one or more areas of it, such as simulation and learning, agentic systems, perception and spatial AI, or robot software and hardware integration. You will work with research, hardware and operations colleagues, and split your time between areas as projects require. If you are strong in one area, we expect you to understand the others, interface with them and contribute to them.

Our Stack

Our stack includes the following components. We look for T‑shaped people: broad across the stack, with deep expertise in one or more of these areas.

• Reinforcement learning for robotic control. Reinforcement learning in simulation with zero shot sim2real deployment.
• Agentic pipelines. High level agentic reasoning and planning pipelines for long horizon tasks.
• Perception and Spatial AI. Perception and spatial understanding for robots: calibration, state estimation, and 3D scene representations that feed policies and agents.
• Robot software. The interfaces between hardware and software, and the tooling used to operate, debug and test robots to accelerate research.

What You'll Do

• Work across simulation, learning, control, software and hardware to close the loop between research and real robots.
• Build and improve the stack we use to train, evaluate and deploy robot policies and controllers, in simulation and on hardware.
• Work with research teams to apply new ideas to working prototypes on real robots.
• Make advanced robotics pipelines robust on real robots.
• Set priorities and make sound technical decisions when the problem is ambiguous, and solve real problems alongside researchers.
• Build the software that connects models, agents and robots: libraries, interfaces and tooling.
• Deploy your work on real robots in experiments inside and outside the lab.

What You'll Need

• BS, MS or PhD in robotics, computer science, engineering, mathematics, physics or equivalent practical experience.
• Preferably >2 years of experience.
• System‑level thinking: you reason about how software, hardware and algorithms interact, and you can trace a failure across layers.
• Either a research background with deep technical expertise that you enjoy applying to real robots, or experience in applied research: working with R&D teams and using state‑of‑the‑art methods in physical AI.
• A solid understanding of robotics theory and math: kinematics, dynamics, control, estimation and optimization.
• Hands‑on robotics experience: you build, debug and run things yourself, in code and on robots.
• Real hardware experience is highly preferred.
• Strong C++ and Python.
• Strong Linux skills.
• A collaborative mindset, working closely with researchers, engineers and operators.
• Contributions to open‑source robotics software.

Note: Candidates are not expected to meet every qualification in the above list. If you do not have all of these qualifications you are still encouraged to apply.

We provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibit discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses and identifying potential inconsistencies or verification signals in application materials based on available information. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.