Founding Robotics ML Research Engineer

Boost Robotics; Cambridge (MA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Startup equity

Health benefits

Relocation assistance

Job summary

Boost Robotics is hiring a Founding Robotics ML Research Engineer to advance autonomous systems for data centers. You will deploy behavior cloning and RL policies, build scalable data collection, training, and real-time operation pipelines, and translate cutting-edge robotics research into production-ready systems.

The role demands strong foundations in robotics, CS or ML, with experience in large manipulation models and deploying learning-based control on real robots.

Qualifications

• Background in Robotics, Computer Science, Machine Learning, or a related field (MS/PhD preferred).
• Experience training large manipulation models (diffusion policies, VLAs).
• Experience developing and deploying learning-based control and perception algorithms on real robots.
• Experience with common ML tools, architectures, and workflows.
• Strong foundation in classical manipulation, control theory, and motion planning.
• Comfort working in small, fast-paced teams where experimentation is constant and results matter.
• Familiarity with various robot teleoperation techniques.

Responsibilities

• Deploy modern behavior cloning and reinforcement learning policies for dextrous tasks in the data center, with a focus on high success rates.
• Lead the software infrastructure for data collection, training, and real-time operation.
• Stay at the frontier of robotics learning research and translate it into production-ready systems that push the boundaries of today’s state of the art.

Skills

Robotics/ML background

Training large manipulation models

Learning-based control & perception

ML tools & workflows

Manipulation, control theory & motion

Team in fast-paced environment

Robot teleoperation techniques

Education

MS/PhD preferred

Tools

ML tools & architectures

Job description

Founding Robotics ML Research Engineer

Boost Robotics is developing the next generation of autonomous systems that monitor and maintain the world’s digital infrastructure. Backed by Y Combinator, our team consists of former CMU Robotics and Boston Dynamics engineers who have worked on robot systems in defense, agriculture, logistics, and industrial inspection.

The mission? Bring dependable, intelligent robotics to some of the most important and fastest-growing infrastructures powering the world’s digital backbone - data centers.

The Role

As a Founding Robotics ML Research Engineer, you will:

• Deploy modern behavior cloning and reinforcement learning policies for dextrous tasks in the data center, with a focus on high success rates.
• Lead the software infrastructure for data collection, training, and real-time operation.
• Stay at the frontier of robotics learning research and translate it into production-ready systems that push the boundaries of today’s state of the art.

What We’re Looking For

• Background in Robotics, Computer Science, Machine Learning, or a related field (MS/PhD preferred).
• Experience training large manipulation models (diffusion policies, VLAs)
• Experience developing and deploying learning-based control and perception algorithms on real robots.
• Experience with common ML tools, architectures, and workflows
• Strong foundation in classical manipulation, control theory, and motion planning.
• Comfort working in small, fast-paced teams where experimentation is constant and results matter.
• Familiarity with various robot teleoperation techniques.

Bonus Points

• Track record of publishing or contributing to top-tier conferences like ICRA, CoRL, RSS, NeurIPS, or CVPR.
• Background in embedded AI or edge deployment.
• Contributions to open-source robotics or ML projects.
• Experience deploying robots in production or industrial environments.
• Exposure to tactile sensing for manipulation.

We’re not hiring for a checklist - we’re hiring for exceptional people. If you move fast, think deeply, and love building things that actually work, you’ll fit right in.

Why you’ll join us

There’s no instruction manual for what we’re building. There’s also no legacy code and no layers of approval - just engineers turning ideas into deployed, practical robots that keep the entire digital world online.

We’re friends and builders who hold the highest standards for ourselves and our work. Joining us means having a say in everything - the culture, the rituals, the engineering stack, and what our robots look like. You won’t just work here - you’ll help create what “here” means.

Compensation

The salary for this role is $120K - $200K, with competitive startup equity, health benefits, and relocation as needed.