Senior Staff AI Software Engineer, Perception

Agility Robotics; Fremont (CA); Hybrid; USD 238,000 - 372,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401(k) Plan

Equity

Medical, dental, vision insurance

Paid holidays

Unlimited PTO (Exempt)

Time-off for holidays

Relocation assistance

Annual discretionary bonus

Job summary

Agility Robotics seeks a Senior Staff AI Software Engineer, Perception to own the technical vision and system architecture for Digit's perception in dynamic environments. You will balance safety, latency, and robustness while guiding detection, tracking, and data association across sensing modalities.

You will lead architectural tradeoff decisions, work with safety and systems teams on the safety case, and mentor engineers while advancing perception capabilities for humanoid robots in real-world

Qualifications

• 8+ years experience in ML/perception for robotics, with system-architecture impact.
• Experience architecting ML/perception for safety-critical contexts.
• Publications in relevant venues a plus.

Responsibilities

• Own the technical vision and system architecture for Perception enabling safety and efficiency.
• Analyze architectural tradeoffs across sensing, model design, redundancy and compute budgets.
• Hands-on development to prototype, validate, or build critical pieces.
• Define safety case strategy with safety/ systems engineering partners.
• Support failure mode and hazard analysis at the system level.
• Evaluate new research and decide adoption into future robot architectures.
• Set verification/validation standards for ML perception systems.
• Collaborate with navigation, controls, and hardware to align perception architecture with the robot.
• Mentor engineers and represent architecture to leadership, partners, and customers.

Skills

8+ years in ML/Perception

System architecture

Safety-critical ML/Perception

CNNs & multi-object tracking

Data association & pose estimation

Embedded/real-time hardware tradeoffs

Technical leadership

Publications (CVPR/ICCV/RSS/ICRA)

Education

MS or PhD in AI/Robotics/CS

Job description

Agility's commercially deployed humanoids operate alongside teams in warehouses, manufacturing facilities, and distribution centers—tackling physically demanding and repetitive tasks while enabling workers to focus on higher-value work. With industry-leading safety standards and years of proven deployment data, we're pioneering a new era of automation that enhances human potential.

Agility Robotics builds Digit, the world's first commercially deployed humanoid robot — already at work in real warehouses and manufacturing facilities today. Digit has proven itself in structured work cells, and now we're pushing beyond them: into open floors, shared aisles, and dynamic spaces where people, forklifts, and other robots are all moving at once. That shift raises the bar for perception dramatically — Digit needs to reliably understand and react to an environment that's no longer predictable or controlled.

That means perception isn't just about capability — it's about trust. Every person Digit works near is counting on our perception systems to see them, understand them, and never get it wrong, whether Digit is in a fixed work cell or navigating a busy, ever-changing facility. We're looking for a Senior Staff AI Software Engineer, Perception to own the technical vision and system architecture for how Digit perceives and stays safe as we take on these more dynamic, less constrained environments.

What You’ll Do

• Own the technical vision and system architecture for Perception that enables safety and efficiency, defining how Digit will perceive and reason about humans and hazards as it expands from structured work cells into open, dynamic environments
• Analyze key architectural tradeoffs across sensing modalities, model design, redundancy, and compute budget, balancing safety, latency, and real-world robustness
• Stay hands‑on with development to prototype, validate, or build critical pieces yourself
• Partner with functional safety and systems engineering to define the safety case strategy, identifying what architecture and evidence will be required
• Support failure mode and hazard analysis at the system level, shaping which risks the architecture must design around
• Evaluate emerging research and technology, and decide what's worth adopting into future robot architectures
• Set standards for verification and validation of ML‑based perception systems, especially for rare and safety‑critical scenarios
• Collaborate across navigation, controls, and hardware to make sure the perception architecture serves the whole robot
• Act as a senior technical mentor and partner to engineers and technical leads across the organization, and represent the architecture to executive leadership, partners, and customers as needed

What You Bring

• 8+ years in machine learning/perception for robotics, with a track record of defining system architecture
• Master's or Ph.D. in Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Computer Science, or a related field, with a strong foundation in machine learning, robotics, and intelligent systems
• Demonstrated experience architecting ML/perception systems for safety‑critical or safety‑rated contexts — human detection, functional safety, automotive or robotics or a comparable regulated domain
• Deep expertise in deep convolutional neural networks, multi‑object tracking, data association, supervised learning, and pose estimation, with strong intuition for where these approaches break down in unpredictable, real‑world conditions
• Experience making system‑level tradeoffs across sensing modalities, redundancy, and compute constraints on embedded/real‑time hardware
• A track record of setting technical direction at an organization level
• Publications in your field are a plus (CVPR, ICCV, RSS, ICRA preferred)

Nice to Haves

• Direct experience supporting a safety case or certification submission
• Experience architecting redundant or diverse sensing systems for safety‑rated perception
• Experience architecting perception systems for humanoid or legged robots specifically
• Experience representing technical architecture to regulators, third‑party certifiers, or safety auditors
• Substantial experience with failure mode analysis (FMEA), hazard analysis, and safety case strategy for autonomous or robotic systems

Location

This is a remote role with the option to work hybrid if a commutable distance from our Salem, OR, Pittsburgh, PA, or Fremont, CA offices.

The final salary offered to a successful candidate will be dependent on several factors that may include but are not limited to: market location, job‑related knowledge, skills, and experience. This range may change based on geographical location and may be modified in the future.

Anticipated Base Salary Range

$238,000—$372,000 USD

In addition to base pay, our competitive total rewards package consists of the following for full‑time employees:

• 401(k) Plan: Includes a 6% company match.
• Equity: Company stock options.
• Insurance Coverage: 100% company‑paid medical, dental, vision, and short/long‑term disability insurance for employees.
• Benefit Start Date: Eligible for benefits on your first day of employment.
• Well‑Being Support: Employee Assistance Program (EAP).
• Time Off:
  • Exempt Employees: Flexible, unlimited PTO and 12 company holidays, including a winter shutdown.
  • Non‑Exempt Employees: 10 vacation days, paid sick leave, and 12 company holidays, including a winter shutdown, annually.
• On‑Site Perks: Catered lunches four times a week and a variety of healthy snacks and refreshments at our Salem and Pittsburgh locations.
• Parental Leave: Generous paid parental leave programs.
• Work Environment: A culture that supports flexible work arrangements.
• Growth Opportunities: Professional development and tuition reimbursement programs.
• Relocation Assistance: Provided for eligible roles.
• Annual Discretionary Bonus: Provided for eligible roles.

All of our roles are U.S.-based. Applicants must have current authorization to work in the United States.

Agility Robotics is committed to a work environment in which all individuals are treated with respect and dignity. Each individual has the right to work in a professional atmosphere that promotes equal employment opportunities and prohibits unlawful discriminatory practices, including harassment. Therefore, it is the policy of Agility Robotics to ensure equal employment opportunity without discrimination or harassment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, marital status, citizenship, national origin, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by law. Agility Robotics prohibits any such discrimination or harassment.