Senior Embodied AI Engineer

Caterpillar Brazil; San Francisco, Northern (CA, KY); Hybrid; USD 124,000 - 201,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, and vision benefits*

Paid time off plan (Vacation, Holidays

401(k) savings plans*

Health Savings Account (HSA)*

Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs)*

Career Development*

Incentive bonus*

Job summary

Caterpillar, a global engineering leader, seeks a Senior Robotics & Embodied AI Engineer to advance production-ready robotic systems. You will design, validate, and deploy autonomous capabilities across perception, planning, reasoning, learning, and controls, collaborating with software, hardware, validation, safety, and product teams.

The role emphasizes turning research into deployable solutions for real jobsites, with 5+ years in software, robotics, AI or autonomous systems and strong

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Robotics, AI, Machine Learning, Electrical Engineering, or related field.
• 5+ years of industry experience developing complex software, robotics, AI, or autonomous systems.
• Strong software engineering fundamentals in Python, C++, or similar languages.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and deploy AI and autonomy capabilities for robotic systems.
• Apply machine learning, foundation models, computer vision, and related technologies to solve real-world autonomy challenges.
• Own and contribute to systems that integrate perception, reasoning, planning, and action.
• Evaluate emerging technologies and support prototyping efforts to assess potential applications.
• Design and execute experiments, simulation scenarios, benchmarks, regression tests, and on-machine performance evaluations.
• Collaborate with software, hardware, infrastructure, research, validation, safety, and product teams to deliver production-quality solutions.
• Troubleshoot complex technical challenges across software, models, sensors, compute, and machine behavior, and optimize system performance for edge deployment.
• Lead and contribute to technical reviews, architecture discussions, and engineering best practices, while mentoring other engineers.
• Own the transition of research concepts into scalable, observable, and deployable products.

Skills

Python

C++

Robotics

AI

Machine learning

Autonomy

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Robotics, AI, Machine Learning, Electrical Engineering, or related field

Tools

ROS/ROS2

Embedded systems

Job description

Career Area: Engineering

Job Description: Your Work Shapes the World at Caterpillar Inc. When you join Caterpillar, you're joining a global team who cares not just about the work we do – but also about each other. We are the makers, problem solvers, and future world builders who are creating stronger, more sustainable communities. We don't just talk about progress and innovation here – we make it happen, with our customers, where we work and live. Together, we are building a better world, so we can all enjoy living in it. Help Build the Future of Caterpillar – At Caterpillar, technology always has a purpose, which is to solve our customers’ toughest challenges. Through Cat Technology, we are solving problems by building the intelligence layer that connects machines, data, and people to make jobsites safer, more productive, and more sustainable. By combining deep domain expertise in physical systems with software, connectivity, autonomy, and AI, we deliver solutions that work in the real world—on real jobsites, at global scale. You’ll build and deploy against one of the most unique data foundations—over 1.6 million connected assets generating real-world data daily. These data and platform capabilities are enabling the development of AI models, edge computing architectures, and software systems that scale across fleets, products, and industries. The result will be a new generation of machines that continuously learn, improve, and deliver performance at scale.

Role Definition

We are building the next generation of intelligent robotic systems that combine advances in robotics, artificial intelligence, foundation models, perception, reasoning, and autonomous decision-making. Our mission is to create robots capable of understanding, learning, and operating effectively in complex real-world environments. We are seeking exceptional engineers who thrive at the intersection of robotics and cutting‑edge AI. This role is intentionally broad, enabling us to attract experienced talent from robotics, machine learning, foundation models, embodied AI, autonomy, and related disciplines, with an emphasis on delivering production capabilities for physical machines.

Responsibilities

As a Senior Robotics & Embodied AI Engineer, you will contribute to the design, development, validation, and deployment of intelligent robotic systems. You will work with cross-functional teams to develop capabilities across perception, planning, reasoning, learning, and controls while translating research and emerging technologies into reliable production solutions for physical machines.

• Design, develop, and deploy AI and autonomy capabilities for robotic systems.
• Apply machine learning, foundation models, computer vision, and related technologies to solve real-world autonomy challenges.
• Own and contribute to systems that integrate perception, reasoning, planning, and action.
• Evaluate emerging technologies and support prototyping efforts to assess potential applications.
• Design and execute experiments, simulation scenarios, benchmarks, regression tests, and on-machine performance evaluations.
• Collaborate with software, hardware, infrastructure, research, validation, safety, and product teams to deliver production-quality solutions.
• Troubleshoot complex technical challenges across software, models, sensors, compute, and machine behavior, and optimize system performance for edge deployment.
• Lead and contribute to technical reviews, architecture discussions, and engineering best practices, while mentoring other engineers.
• Own the transition of research concepts into scalable, observable, and deployable products.

What You Will Have:

• Software Product Design/Architecture: Knowledge of software product design; ability to convert market requirements into the software product design.
• Artificial Intelligence: Knowledge of the concepts, technologies and methodologies of artificial intelligence (AI); ability to develop, implement and/or apply artificial intelligence products and services in specific industry domain to achieve business goals.
• Programming: Knowledge of relevant programming languages and tools; ability to test, write, design, debug, troubleshoot and maintain source codes and computer programs.

Top Candidates Will Have:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Robotics, AI, Machine Learning, Electrical Engineering, or related field.
• 5+ years of industry experience developing complex software, robotics, AI, or autonomous systems.
• Advanced degrees may substitute for a portion of industry experience.
• Strong software engineering fundamentals in Python, C++, or similar languages.
• Experience owning and delivering a complex production capability or subsystem from design through deployment.
• Demonstrated ability to solve ambiguous technical problems, make sound engineering tradeoffs, and influence technical direction across teams.

Preferred Qualifications

Candidates may possess expertise in one or more of the following areas:

• Robotics: Experience with robotic systems, including ROS/ROS2, motion planning, SLAM/localization, manipulation, controls, behavior planning, or multi-machine coordination.
• Foundation Models & AI: Expertise applying LLMs, vision‑language and vision‑language‑action models (VLA), multimodal learning, and generative AI to robotic intelligence problems.
• Machine Learning: Strong background in deep learning, reinforcement learning, imitation learning, self‑supervised learning, and representation learning.
• Perception: Experience with computer vision, sensor fusion, object detection and tracking, and 3D scene understanding.
• Systems: Experience with distributed or embedded systems, AI infrastructure, simulation and hardware‑in‑the‑loop testing, edge deployment, observability, and performance optimization.

Additional Details:

This position requires full-time, onsite work in our San Francisco office. Domestic relocation assistance is available for this position. Visa sponsorship is NOT available with this position currently. Summary Pay Range: $123,980.00 - $201,450.00. Compensation and benefits offered may vary depending on multiple individualized factors, job level, market location, job-related knowledge, skills, individual performance and experience. Please note that salary is only one component of total compensation at Caterpillar.

This position requires working onsite five days a week.

Benefits:

• Medical, dental, and vision benefits*
• Paid time off plan (Vacation, Holidays, Volunteer, etc.)*
• 401(k) savings plans*
• Health Savings Account (HSA)*
• Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs)*
• Health Lifestyle Programs*
• Employee Assistance Program*
• Voluntary Benefits and Employee Discounts*
• Career Development*
• Incentive bonus*
• Disability benefits
• Life Insurance
• Parental leave
• Adoption benefits
• Tuition Reimbursement *

* These benefits also apply to part‑time employees.

Any offer of employment is conditioned upon the successful completion of a drug screen.

Caterpillar is an Equal Opportunity Employer, Including Veterans and Individuals with Disabilities.

Qualified applicants of any age are encouraged to apply.

There’s more to work at Caterpillar than just the work itself. We hire smart, friendly people and it shows in our culture. We hold ourselves to high standards and make sure our values of integrity, excellence, teamwork, commitment and sustainability come to life in the way we work. We make sure our employees feel continuously challenged while also supported. We provide professional growth opportunities, including leadership programs. We celebrate the diversity of our team, while also working together as one Caterpillar. Our culture, like everything at our company, is made possible by each employee’s contribution. Person by person, we create the environment we work in, and we are proud of the Caterpillar we’ve built.