Robot Operator

Cortex AI; California (MO); Hybrid; USD 60,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Cortex AI is hiring for full-time Robot Operators to support real-world data operations for frontier AI and robotics models.

You will alternate between Teleoperation and Egocentric modes, operating robotic arms, capturing synchronized data, and performing maintenance and troubleshooting of robotic systems.

Qualifications

• Hands-on experience with robotic arms, teleoperation systems, or automation equipment.
• Strong hand-eye coordination, spatial reasoning, and attention to detail.
• Physically capable of wearing a VR headset for extended sessions.

Responsibilities

• Operate robotic arms and grippers via teleoperation systems to perform manipulation tasks.
• Capture synchronized robot-centric data during teleoperation sessions.
• Maintain safety, accuracy, and repeatability across trials and environments.
• Log outcomes, anomalies, and recovery data for engineering review.
• Collaborate with engineers to optimize latency and data capture quality.
• Maintain metadata logs (object type, tool, environment, outcomes).
• Wear a VR headset to perform egocentric tasks and capture data.
• Review and annotate data captured and assist in lab setup and maintenance.

Skills

Teleoperation

Robotics

Data collection

VR headset

Safety awareness

Tools

Robot arms

Teleoperation systems

Job description

We're hiring full-time Robot Operators to power our real-world data operations. You'll operate at the frontier where AI meets reality - capturing high-value manipulation and interaction data that trains frontier world and robotics models.

You'll work across two modes:

Teleoperation Mode: Control robot and robotic arms to perform real-world manipulation tasks while capturing synchronized robot data for embodied AI training.

Egocentric Mode: Wear a VR headset and perform similar physical tasks using your own hands to capture high-fidelity, human-centric data.

Between sessions, you'll also maintain, calibrate, and troubleshoot the robotic systems and sensors that make this large-scale data collection possible.

Key Responsibilities

Robot Teleoperation & Data Collection

• Operate robotic arms and grippers through teleoperation systems to perform manipulation tasks such as picking, placing, assembling, sorting, or tool handling
• Capture synchronized robot-centric data (joint states, sensor feedback, camera feeds, gripper signals) during teleoperation sessions
• Ensure safety, accuracy, and repeatability across repeated trials and environments
• Monitor robot behavior and log operational outcomes, anomalies, and recovery data
• Collaborate with the engineering team to optimize teleoperation latency, control response, and data capture quality
• Maintain organized metadata logs (object type, tool, environment, success/failure outcome)

Egocentric Data Collection

• Wear a VR headset to perform diverse real-world tasks (e.g., pick-and-place, open/close containers, use tools, sort, and assemble objects)
• Capture first-person (egocentric) visual and sensor data for pretraining and multimodal learning
• Follow task scripts and protocols to ensure consistency across environments and conditions
• Review and annotate data captured

Robot Maintenance & Lab Support

• Conduct basic mechanical and electrical maintenance on robots, robot arms, grippers, and sensors
• Assist in setting up new robot workcells: mechanical mounting, cabling, calibration, and safety verification
• Assist in troubleshooting of connectivity and hardware issues
• Keep the workspace organized and ensure compliance with safety standards

Requirements

• Strong hand-eye coordination, spatial reasoning, and attention to detail
• Physically capable of performing manual manipulation tasks and wearing a VR headset for extended sessions
• Hands-on experience with robotic arms, teleoperation systems, or automation equipment
• Comfortable working with tools, sensors, and mechanical fixtures
• Methodical, safety-conscious, and motivated to work in a fast-paced, experimental environment

Preferred Experience

• Experience in robot data collection, motion capture, or human-in-the-loop control
• Hybrid of lab-based and onsite workplace operations across industrial, office, and service environments
• Requires wearing a VR headset for egocentric sessions (a few hours per session)

Why Join Cortex

• Work directly on the frontier of physical AI - where human action and robotic intelligence converge
• Your contribution will help train world and robotics foundation models used by leading labs and companies
• Collaborate with a high-energy and passionate engineers and roboticists
• Hands-on experience with state-of-the-art teleoperation rigs, VR capture systems and multi-sensor robots