Research Engineer Robotics (Operations)

Meta; Redmond (WA); On-site; USD 154,003 - 217,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Bonus

Equity

Comprehensive benefits

Job summary

Meta is seeking an experienced Robotics Operations Engineer in Redmond to lead our real-robot operations infrastructure. In this critical role, you will evaluate robotic systems, support data collection, deploy control policies, and define processes for automation.

With over 5 years of experience in robotics and proficiency in Python and ROS, you will drive innovation and collaboration within interdisciplinary teams. Compensation ranges from $154,003 to $217,000 annually, plus bonuses and equity.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of industry experience in robotics software engineering, robotic systems integration, or robotics operations.
• Hands-on experience building up, debugging, and maintaining physical robot systems.
• Demonstrated ability to work autonomously.

Responsibilities

• Evaluate new robotic arms and architect next-gen robot stations.
• Own the end-to-end lifecycle of real robot stations.
• Operate and support teleoperation data collection campaigns.

Skills

Python

ROS or ROS 2

Linux systems administration

Robotics software engineering

Containerization (Docker)

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Robotics, or equivalent

Tools

Docker

Job description

Summary

Reality Labs Research (Reality Labs Research) brings together a multidisciplinary and highly interdisciplinary team of researchers and engineers to create the future of dexterous robotic manipulation. We are seeking an experienced Robotics Operations Engineer to own and scale our real-robot operations infrastructure. You will be responsible for designing, building, validating, and supporting robotic manipulation stations used for data collection, policy deployment, and real-robot evaluation. You will work closely with research scientists, policy engineers, and embodiment teams — serving as the critical bridge between research ideas and physical robot results. This is a high-impact, high-autonomy role: you will define processes, build tools, and unblock researchers across the team.

Required Skills

Research Engineer Robotics (Operations) Responsibilities:

1. Next Generation Robotics Stations: Evaluate new robotic arms and hands and architect next-gen robot stations
2. Robot Station Operations: Own the end-to-end lifecycle of real robot stations — build-up, calibration, validation, maintenance, and teardown. Ensure stations are reliable and ready for data collection and policy testing
3. Data Collection & Ingestion: Operate and support teleoperation data collection campaigns. Build and maintain pipelines for ingesting, validating, and organizing collected data to feed ML training workflows
4. Policy Deployment & Testing: Deploy trained control policies on real robotic hardware. Run evaluations, diagnose failures, and report results to research teams. Benchmark sim-to-real gaps
5. Tooling & Infrastructure: Develop and maintain tools that improve robot operations reliability, performance, and ease of use — including Docker environments, build systems, deployment automation, and monitoring/logging systems
6. System Integration: Integrate new hardware (sensors, hands, cameras) and software components (drivers, controllers, perception modules) into existing robot stations. Debug and resolve cross-system issues spanning RTOS, Linux, and Windows
7. Process Definition & Documentation: Define and document playbooks, runbooks, and standard operating procedures for robot operations. Continuously improve processes to reduce toil and increase station uptime
8. Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with policy researchers, embodiment engineers, teleop engineers, and exoskeleton teams to plan and execute experiments on real robots
9. Station Scaling: Lead the bring-up and commissioning of new robot stations across sites. Develop scalable approaches to multi-station management

Minimum Qualifications

1. Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, relevant technical field, or equivalent practical experience
2. Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Robotics, Electrical Engineering, or equivalent practical experience
3. 5+ years of industry experience in robotics software engineering, robotic systems integration, or robotics operations
4. Proficiency in Python, including experience writing production-quality scripts and automation tools, and experience with Linux systems administration
5. Experience with ROS or ROS 2 in real-world robotic systems (not just simulation)
6. Hands-on experience building up, debugging, and maintaining physical robot systems (manipulators, multi-camera setups, sensor suites)
7. Experience with containerization (Docker) and deployment automation tools
8. Demonstrated ability to work autonomously, define priorities, and drive projects to completion with minimal direction
9. Experience communicating cross-functionally to translate between research goals and engineering execution

Preferred Qualifications

1. Experience with motion capture systems, force/torque sensors, or tactile sensing hardware
2. Experience scaling robot operations across multiple stations or sites, with a track record of reducing operational toil in research environments
3. Experience with dexterous manipulation systems, multi-fingered hands, or humanoid robots
4. Demonstrated ability to integrate AI tools to optimize/redesign workflows and drive measurable impact (e.g., efficiency gains, quality improvements)
5. Experience adhering to and implementing responsible, ethical AI practices (e.g., risk assessment, bias mitigation, quality and accuracy reviews)
6. Experience with ML training pipelines or ML Ops workflows (e.g., PyTorch, data validation frameworks)
7. Master's degree in Robotics, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or related field
8. Demonstrated ongoing AI skill development (e.g., prompt/context engineering, agent orchestration) and staying current with emerging AI technologies
9. Proficiency in C++ in addition to Python
10. Experience with real-time control systems, including RTOS and hardware time synchronization

Public Compensation

$154,003/year to $217,000/year + bonus + equity + benefits

Industry

Internet

Equal Opportunity

Meta is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity and Aff… (full statement omitted for brevity)