Research Engineer

Energize Group; Boston (MA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

Energize Group in Boston, MA is seeking a Founding Robotics Research Engineer to join on-site and help shape the company’s early research agenda. You will collaborate with external partners and internal teams to translate cutting-edge robotics research into practical tools for hardware teams.

You will work on advanced algorithms, system identification, AI-assisted tooling, and demonstrations, helping to profile capabilities and attract attention from the broader robotics community.

Qualifications

• A genuine, demonstrated track record in robotics; formal qualifications are not a barrier, enthusiasm for hard technical problems is valued.
• Strong interpersonal skills, with comfort working hands on alongside external partners
• Familiarity with modern AI assisted coding tools, building automation around repetitive engineering tasks
• Solid general understanding of hardware systems and current robotics research
• A self starting mindset, comfortable owning decisions and picking up new skills quickly

Responsibilities

• Building advanced algorithms across learned dynamics, system identification, simulation to real world transfer, and real-time embedded control driven by AI models
• Shaping internal research output into a usable product for external research teams
• Building backend systems that handle hardware data and support model training
• Partnering with outside engineering teams to apply the company's tooling to their challenges
• Creating standout technical demonstrations and written work using company hardware and software to build public visibility
• Helping define team culture and bringing in strong people to grow the team

Skills

Robotics research

AI tooling

Hardware systems

Self-starting

Team collaboration

Tools

AI frameworks

Job description

Please note only US Citizens can be considered for this role*

Founding Robotics Research Engineer Boston, MA

The company

A newly formed, well funded robotics company in the Boston area is building next generation AI software the layer that lets physical machines learn to move and act with far greater capability. The founding group is made up of researchers with serious pedigree in robotics and machine learning, and the mission is to turn cutting edge research into tools that hardware teams across many industries can actually use day to day. The company designs and builds its own walking, rolling, and flying machines as test platforms, then packages what it learns into software that other organisations can adopt for their own controls and simulation work.

The opportunity

This is a true ground floor hire, one of the first research engineers on the team, based on site in Boston. There is a clear path to grow into a senior research voice or into engineering leadership as headcount expands. Roughly half the role involves partnering directly with outside research teams (spanning robotics, automotive, aerospace, energy, and manufacturing) to solve real engineering problems with the company's tools. The other half is spent on ambitious internal research projects intended to showcase what the technology can do publicly.

Core responsibilities

• Building advanced algorithms across areas such as learned dynamics models, system identification, simulation to real world transfer, large scale parallel simulation, reinforcement learning, generative control policies, predictive and sampling based control methods, and real time embedded control driven by AI models
• Shaping internal research output into a usable, polished product for external research teams
• Building out the backend systems that handle hardware data and support model training
• Partnering closely with outside engineering teams to apply the company's tooling to their own challenges
• Creating standout technical demonstrations and written work using company hardware and software to build public visibility
• Helping define team culture and bringing in strong people to build alongside

What they are looking for

• A genuine, demonstrated track record in robotics, work samples or projects are welcomed and formal qualifications are not a barrier; what matters most is real enthusiasm for hard technical problems
• Strong interpersonal skills, with comfort working hands on alongside external partners
• Familiarity with modern AI assisted coding tools, with the ability to build automation around repetitive engineering tasks
• Solid general understanding of hardware systems and current robotics research
• A self starting mindset, comfortable owning decisions and picking up new skills quickly

Nice to have

• Mechanical aptitude with hardware systems
• Background in training AI models, or strong curiosity about AI training infrastructure
• Exposure to control theory, dynamics modelling, system identification, simulation to real transfer, model based control, or reinforcement learning