Robotics & Autonomy Research Assistant

MIT Lincoln Laboratory; Lexington (MA); On-site; USD 92,000 - 115,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive health plans

MIT-funded pension

Matching 401K

Paid leave

Job summary

MIT Lincoln Laboratory seeks an Assistant Staff to support multidisciplinary research and prototyping in autonomy and robotic systems for national security. You will contribute to design, development, data analysis, testing, and documentation across hardware and software domains in a fast-paced mission-driven environment.

The role emphasizes collaboration, growth, and hands-on work with autonomy stacks, sensing, localization, and control on DoD-relevant platforms, with opportunities to advance

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a STEM field or equivalent technical experience.
• Foundational understanding of research principles, analytical methods, and structured problem solving.
• Ability to learn and apply technical tools, systems, standards, and procedures within a team environment.
• Effective written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to document work clearly, ask clarifying questions, and interact respectfully with colleagues, sponsors, and other stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Support design, development, data analysis, programming, testing, troubleshooting, modeling, simulation, and documentation of systems or prototypes.
• Apply basic or established technical practices, tools, and procedures to complete defined tasks and solve routine technical problems.
• Contribute to data collection, documentation, and component- or subsystem-level deliverables supporting broader research and mission-focused efforts.
• Learn and apply relevant mission context, technical standards, systems, platforms, and project processes.
• Communicate progress, technical results, assumptions, risks, and questions clearly and incorporate feedback into technical work products.
• Depending on level, identify small process improvements and assist new hires, interns, or less experienced staff.

Skills

C++

Robotics software

State estimation

Computer vision

Multi-agent RL

ROS/ROS2

Security clearance

Education

Bachelor’s degree in STEM

Tools

Python

Linux

ROS/ROS2

Job description

MIT Lincoln Laboratory seeks an Assistant Staff to support multidisciplinary research and prototyping in autonomy and robotic systems for national security. You will contribute to design, development, data analysis, testing, and documentation across hardware and software domains in a fast-paced mission-driven environment.

The role emphasizes collaboration, growth, and hands-on work with autonomy stacks, sensing, localization, and control on DoD-relevant platforms, with opportunities to advance