Senior Machine Learning Research Engineer

Humanoid; Greater London; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity options

30+ days off (UK holidays included)

Private healthcare

Pension scheme 8% total contribution

Free daily meals and snacks

Ownership and leadership access

Job summary

Humanoid, based in the United Kingdom, designs robots in simulation before building them in hardware. We’re seeking a Robotics Simulation & RL Engineer to design and validate future generations of our humanoid platforms, including bipedal and wheeled systems, using physics simulation and reinforcement learning.

You will own URDF models and help guide hardware decisions on actuator sizing, joint placement, and sensor layout, collaborating with mechanical, control, and perception teams to drive

Qualifications

• M.Sc. or Ph.D. in Robotics, Mechanical Engineering, Control, or related field.
• Strong foundation in robot kinematics and dynamics.
• Experience with robot simulation environments (MuJoCo, Isaac Sim, Gazebo, or similar).
• Experience with reinforcement learning in robotics or physics-based simulation.
• Experience working with URDF or similar robot description formats.
• Strong programming skills in Python and/or C++.
• Experience training RL locomotion or manipulation policies.

Responsibilities

• Design and evaluate new robot platforms using physics simulation.
• Analyze workspace, manipulability, dynamic balance, and torque limits.
• Use reinforcement learning to stress-test robot designs and explore capabilities.
• Own and maintain URDF models of current and future platforms.
• Maintain the CAD URDF simulation pipeline.
• Develop tools and benchmarks to evaluate locomotion, manipulation, and robustness.
• Provide quantitative feedback to hardware teams on actuator sizing and sensor layout.
• Collaborate with mechanical, control, and perception teams to guide platform design.

Skills

Robotics kinematics & dynamics

Python & C++ programming

Robot simulation environments

Reinforcement learning in robotics

URDF or robot description formats

Experience with legged/humanoid robots

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

M.Sc. or Ph.D. in Robotics, Mechanical Engineering, Control, or related field

Tools

MuJoCo

Isaac Sim

Gazebo

Job description

Here at Humanoid, we believe in a future where robots amplify human potential. That’s why we’ve set out on a mission to build the world’s most capable, commercially-scalable, and safe humanoid robots. We’re bringing that mission to life with HMND‑01 - our rapidly developed humanoid platform being deployed in real industrial environments - and we’re growing the team to take it even further.

About The Role

We design robots in simulation before building them in hardware.

As a Robotics Simulation & RL Engineer, you will help design and validate future generations of our robotic platforms - including bipedal and wheeled systems - using physics simulation and reinforcement learning.

You will develop tools to determine whether a robot design can perform real-world tasks before committing to hardware. Your work will directly inform robot architecture, actuator selection, sensor placement, and control strategies.

A key responsibility of this role is owning and validating the canonical robot models (URDF and simulation assets) used across simulation and control stacks.

What You’ll Do

• Design and evaluate new robot platforms using physics simulation;

• Analyze robot capabilities including workspace, manipulability, dynamic balance, and torque limits;

• Use reinforcement learning to stress-test robot designs and explore capability limits;

• Own and maintain URDF models of current and future robot platforms;

• Maintain the CAD URDF simulation pipeline;

• Develop tools and benchmarks to evaluate locomotion, manipulation, and platform robustness;

• Provide quantitative feedback to hardware teams on actuator sizing, joint placement, mass distribution, and sensor layout;

• Collaborate with mechanical, control, and perception teams to guide platform design decisions.

What We're Looking For

• M.Sc. or Ph.D. in Robotics, Mechanical Engineering, Control, or a related field;

• Strong foundation in robot kinematics and dynamics;

• Experience with robot simulation environments (MuJoCo, Isaac Sim, Gazebo, or similar);

• Experience with reinforcement learning in robotics or physics-based simulation;

• Experience working with URDF or similar robot description formats;

• Strong programming skills in Python and/or C++;

• Experience training RL locomotion or manipulation policies.

Nice to have:

• Experience with legged, humanoid, or wheeled robots;

• Experience with whole-body control or torque-controlled robots;

• Experience with simulation-driven hardware design;

• Experience building large-scale RL training pipelines.

What We Offer

• Competitive equity: stock options with meaningful upside as we scale.

• 30+ paid days off, including 23 days of annual leave, all UK bank holidays, and additional company closure days (including Christmas–New Year shutdown).

• Private healthcare, including virtual and in-person care.

• Pension scheme with 8% total contribution (5% employee, 3% employer) on full earnings.

• Free daily breakfast, catered lunch, and snacks in-office.

• Work at the frontier - collaborate daily with world‑class engineers, researchers, and product experts building the next generation of AI and humanoid robotics.

• Real ownership - direct access to founding leadership, meaningful input on product direction, and the ability to drive key initiatives from day one.