Senior / Staff AI Research Scientist, Manipulation

RoboForce; Milpitas (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stock options/equity

Health insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

401(k) plan

Meals provided

Team-building events

Job summary

RoboForce in Milpitas, CA, is seeking a Senior / Staff AI Research Scientist, Manipulation to advance robotic manipulation capabilities for real-world deployment. You will design and deploy dexterous manipulation algorithms and push production-ready models to RoboForce robots.

The role requires a master’s with 4+ years or a PhD, experience with multimodal models, imitation and reinforcement learning, tactile sensing, and Python-based DL frameworks; in-office collaboration 5 days a week is

Qualifications

• Master’s degree with 4+ years experience or PhD in ML/Robotics.
• Strong background in multimodal ML, transformers and diffusion models.
• Expertise in imitation & reinforcement learning, tactile sensing, and robotics learning.
• Experience with physical simulators and deployed robotics environments.
• Proficiency in Python and deep learning frameworks (PyTorch/JAX).
• Requires 5 days/week in-office collaboration with teams.

Responsibilities

• Design and deploy algorithms for dexterous manipulation tasks.
• Deploy production-ready models on RoboForce robots.
• Build and enhance contact-rich robot learning stacks through physics-based simulation.

Skills

Dexterous manipulation

Robotics learning

Reinforcement learning

Imitation learning

Tactile sensing

Multimodal ML

Python

Transformers

Education

Master’s degree in ML/Robotics (4+ years)

PhD in related field

Tools

MuJoCo

IsaacSim

Drake

PyBullet

PhysX

PyTorch

JAX

CUDA

Job description

RoboForce is an AI robotics company developing Physical AI–powered Robo-Labor for dull, dirty, and dangerous work. The company’s robots are engineered for demanding industrial environments, with a focus on real-world deployment and scalability.

We are looking for a Senior / Staff AI Research Scientist, Manipulation to advance robotic manipulation capabilities, enabling dynamic and physically interactive tasks. You will design and deploy algorithms for dexterous manipulation tasks and deploy for real-world applications.

Responsibilities

• Design and deploy algorithms for dexterous manipulation tasks.
• Deploy models as production-ready solutions on RoboForce robots.
• Create and enhance contact-rich robot learning stacks through physics-based simulation.

Requirements

• Master’s degree in Machine Learning, Robotics, or related field with 4+ years of experience or a PhD degree.
• Decent understanding of multimodal models, modern ML architectures (transformers, diffusion models, etc.).
• Expertise in imitation learning, reinforcement learning, tactile sensing and robotics learning.
• Proficiency with one or more physical simulators (e.g., MuJoCo, IsaacSim, Drake, PyBullet, PhysX) and experience working in a deployed robotics environment.
• Proficiency in Python, and deep learning frameworks (e.g., PyTorch, JAX).
• Requires 5 days/week in-office collaboration with the teams.

Bonus Qualifications

• Expertise in large foundation models (VLM, VLA, etc).
• Strong publication on top conferences in robotics manipulation.
• Expertise in neural network deployment (e.g., TensorRT) and GPU programming with CUDA.
• Proven ability to design scalable experimentation and data pipelines.
• Familiarity with 3D computer vision and/or graphics pipelines
• Competitive stock options/equity programs.
• Health, dental, and vision insurance, 401(k) plan.
• Visa sponsorship and green card support for qualified candidates.
• Lunches and dinners, a fully stocked kitchen, and regular team-building events.