Robotics Engineer

lumalabs-ai; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 250,000 - 450,000; Full time

Job summary

lumalabs-ai in San Francisco seeks a founding Robotics Engineer to bring up commercial robot platforms, wire sensors and data pipelines needed for world-model rollouts and real-world policy evaluation.

You will own the data pipeline from robot to training, build test rigs, and keep the fleet running across hardware and software, translating model requirements into actionable robot behavior.

Qualifications

• Strong systems integration background across robots, drivers, sensors, and real-time control.
• Hands-on with ROS/ROS2 (or equivalent), Python, and Linux at the systems level.
• Experience debugging from kernel drivers to ML pipeline issues.
• Track record of setting up complex robot configurations and keeping them running.

Responsibilities

• Bring up and operate off-the-shelf robot platforms for model evaluation and data collection.
• Integrate cameras, depth sensors, IMUs and other sensors for world-model rollouts.
• Own the data pipeline from robot to training: logging, synchronization, calibration, replay.
• Build test rigs and benchmarks to measure model improvement over time.
• Keep the fleet running: debug failures across hardware, drivers, and integration code.
• Bridge research needs to real-world robot actions and behaviors.

Skills

Systems integration

ROS/ROS2

Python

Linux

Debugging across stack

Robot setups

Tools

ROS/ROS2

Python

Linux

Job description

THE ROLE

We don't build robots — we test models on them. As the founding Robotics Engineer, you'll bring up commercial robot platforms (humanoids, arms, mobile bases), wire up the sensors and data pipelines our world models need, and run the experiments that tell us whether the model actually works in the real world

WHAT YOU'LL DO

• Bring up and operate off-the-shelf robot platforms (humanoids, manipulators, mobile bases) for model evaluation and data collection.
• Integrate cameras, depth sensors, IMUs, and other sensors needed for world-model rollouts and policy evaluation.
• Own the data pipeline from robot to training: logging, synchronization, calibration, and replay.
• Build the test rigs and benchmarks that tell us whether the model is improving over time.
• Keep the fleet running — debug failures across hardware, drivers, and integration code.
• Be the bridge between research and the physical world: translate "what the model needs" into "what the robot does."

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

• Strong systems integration background — robots, drivers, sensors, real-time control.
• Hands‑on with ROS/ROS2 (or equivalent), Python, and Linux at the systems level.
• Comfortable debugging across the stack: from kernel‑level driver issues to ML pipeline bugs.
• Track record of standing up complex robot setups and keeping them running.

Preferred: experience with humanoids/manipulators from major vendors (Unitree, Figure, 1X, Agility, Franka, etc.), and prior work in a research lab where the robot was a means to an end rather than the end itself.

Compensation

The base pay range for this role is $250,000 – $450,000 per year.