Senior Roboticist- Stretch Manipulation (opens in new tab)

Boston Dynamics; Waltham (MA); On-site; USD 135,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision

401(k)

Paid time off

Annual bonus

Job summary

Boston Dynamics’ Stretch Manipulation team in Waltham, MA is seeking a Senior Roboticist to advance grasping, motion generation and next-box selection for warehouse automation. You’ll develop the manipulation stack, test on real robots, and collaborate with product and customer success teams to deliver production-ready capabilities.

The role requires deep expertise in classical manipulation or robot learning, strong C++/Python programming in Linux, and experience deploying robotics to production

Qualifications

• Deep expertise in classical manipulation (planning, control, grasping) or robot learning with exposure to the other.
• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree with 2+ years of experience, or a PhD in Computer Science, Robotics, or a related field.
• Experience with simulation and on-robot experiments; strong intuition and comfort with real robots.
• Excellent programming in C++ and Python within a Linux environment; debugging skills; familiarity with modern agentic programming workflows.

Responsibilities

• Develop Stretch’s manipulation stack, including grasping, motion generation, and next-box selection.
• Evaluate capabilities in simulation and on-robot experiments; iterate from concept to production-ready features.
• Collaborate with Product and Customer Success teams to solve real-world warehouse challenges.
• Deploy robotic manipulation capabilities to production, especially in logistics or warehouse settings.

Skills

Classical manipulation

Robot learning

C++

Python

Linux

Production deployment

On-robot testing

Education

Bachelor's or Master's with 2+ years

Ph.D. in CS/Robotics

Tools

Claude Code

Job description

## Senior Roboticist- Stretch ManipulationApply: Waltham, MA: Full time: Posted Today: R3272Stretch, Boston Dynamics’ mobile manipulation robot for warehouse applications, has moved nearly 50 million boxes for customers around the world. On the Stretch Manipulation team, your innovations ship directly to that fleet, driving customer value each and every day. You’ll do hands-on development of Stretch’s manipulation stack – leveraging the best of algorithmic and data-driven techniques. You’ll develop within a vertically integrated system, providing the opportunity to tightly couple your software with our world-class hardware, with access to fleet metrics and fleet-scale data to guide innovation. **To thrive in this role:*** You’re excited to advance Stretch’s manipulation capabilities (grasping, motion generation, next box selection), delivering increased performance to customers who depend on Stretch daily.* You track the latest advancements in robotics and physical AI with a critical eye, rigorously evaluating them for real-world performance benefits before deploying them as shippable features for our robot fleet.* You know when to act scrappy to validate design concepts quickly, and when to build carefully to ensure a scalable, production-ready system.* You rapidly iterate from concepts to on-robot tests to hardened features, following through to ensure new capabilities are polished before reaching the customer.* You’re eager to engage with customer-facing teams (Product, Customer Success) and care deeply about solving real-world warehouse challenges. **We’re looking for (you don’t need to check every box):*** Deep expertise in classical manipulation (planning, control, grasping) *or* robot learning (imitation learning, RL, VLAs), with working fluency in the other.* Bachelor's or Master's with 2+ years of experience, or Ph.D. in Computer Science, Robotics, or a related field.* Experience developing and evaluating classical and learned robot capabilities in simulation and via on-robot experiments; strong physical intuition, and confidence, comfort, and excitement when working with real robots.* Excellent programming skills in C++ and Python within a Linux environment; strong debugging skills; familiarity with modern agentic programming workflows (e.g., Claude Code).* Experience deploying robotic manipulation capabilities to production, especially in logistics or warehouse settings. **Nice to have:*** Publications in top-tier robotics/AI conferences and journals (e.g., RSS, ICRA, IROS, RA-L, T-RO, NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, CoRL).* Strong record in robotics competitions. *We are interested in every qualified candidate who is eligible to work in the United States. However, we are not able to sponsor visas for this position.* The base pay range for this position is between $135,000 to $160,000 annually. Base pay will depend on multiple individualized factors including, but not limited to internal equity, job related knowledge, skills and experience. This range represents a good faith estimate of compensation at the time of posting. Boston Dynamics offers a generous Benefits package including medical, dental vision, 401(k), paid time off and a annual bonus structure. Additional details regarding these benefit plans will be provided if an employee receives an offer for employment.