Robotics Research Engineer - Sim2Real & Perception

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

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.