Research Scientist / Engineer: Intern

Holiday Robotics Inc.; Mountain View (CA); Hybrid; USD 83,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Relocation stipend for out-of-state

Free daily meals

Potential full-time conversion

Job summary

Holiday Robotics Research Inc. offers a Research Scientist / Engineer Intern position focused on FRIDAY, the mobile humanoid robot.

Work spans dynamics, planning, control, dexterous manipulation, and robot learning, with an end-to-end project approach and a dedicated mentor. You will run reproducible experiments in Holiday-Newton and on FRIDAY, define metrics, analyze failures, and iterate quickly between simulation and hardware; on-site in Mountain View, CA for approximately six months with

Qualifications

• Currently enrolled in BS/MS/PhD in robotics or closely related field.
• Strong foundation in dynamics, planning, control, dexterous manipulation, perception, or robot learning.
• Proficiency in Python or C++, with Linux experience.

Responsibilities

• Develop and evaluate dynamics, planning, and control algorithms for the robot.
• Run experiments in the in-house simulator and on FRIDAY; define metrics and iterate between sim and hardware.
• Own projects end-to-end with mentor guidance; document and present results.

Skills

Python

C++

Linux

Education

BS/MS/PhD in Robotics, CS, Mechanical Eng, or Electrical Eng

Tools

ROS 2

MuJoCo

Drake

Warp

JAX

PyTorch

Job description

Holiday Robotics Research Inc. is the U.S. subsidiary of Holiday Robotics, a leading humanoid robotics company based in South Korea. We build the entire robotics stack in-house—from hardware and firmware to planning, control, simulation, and end-user software—with the goal of freeing people from tedious, dangerous, and repetitive tasks.

We are looking for a Research Scientist / Engineer Intern to contribute to FRIDAY, our mobile humanoid robot, within one of three focus areas: dynamics, planning, and control; dexterous robot manipulation; or robot learning. During the internship, you will own a focused research or engineering project, work closely with researchers and engineers across disciplines, and evaluate your work in simulation and on the physical robot.

Key Areas

What You'll Do

• Within your focus area, develop and evaluate dynamics, planning, and control algorithms; multimodal dexterous-manipulation methods; or robot-learning policies using reinforcement and imitation learning.
• Run reproducible experiments in our in-house simulator, Holiday-Newton, and on FRIDAY, define evaluation metrics, analyze failure modes, and iterate quickly between simulation and hardware.
• Own your project end-to-end, from problem formulation through final evaluation, with guidance from a designated mentor.
• Collaborate with hardware, firmware, perception, simulation, and robotics research teams, and document and present your results at the end of the internship.

Required Qualifications

• Currently enrolled in a BS, MS, or Ph.D. program in Robotics, Computer Science, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a closely related field.
• Strong technical foundation in at least one of the following: dynamics, planning, and control; dexterous manipulation; perception and state estimation; or robot learning.
• Strong proficiency in Python or C++, and willingness to work in both as the project requires, with experience developing and debugging software in Linux.
• Available to work full-time on-site in Mountain View, CA for a minimum of three months, with approximately six months preferred.

Preferred Qualifications

• Hands-on experience with physical robots, including manipulators, mobile platforms, humanoids, or tactile-sensing systems.
• Exposure to Sim-to-Real transfer, or to deploying and evaluating controllers or learned policies on physical robots.
• Experience with ROS 2, MuJoCo, Drake, Warp, JAX, PyTorch, or comparable robotics and machine-learning tools.
• Evidence of exceptional technical work through publications at venues such as RSS, ICRA, IROS, or CoRL, open-source contributions, robotics competitions, or substantial independent projects.
• Compensation: $60–$80 USD per hour. Final hourly compensation is based on education level, experience, technical depth, and project fit.
• Duration & schedule: Full-time internship with an expected duration of approximately six months; we ask for a minimum commitment of three months. The role is designed for a standard 40-hour workweek and is not expected to require overtime.
• Start & end dates: Flexible start date; exact start and end dates are agreed upon during the offer process.
• Work authorization: Applicants must be authorized to work in the United States. We are unable to sponsor visas for internship roles.
• Full-time conversion: Interns who excel may be considered for full-time roles on the team.
• Relocation: Stipend for out-of-state candidates.
• Meals: Free daily meals.

Holiday Robotics Research Inc. is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, age, disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.