Senior Staff Perception Engineer

Boston Dynamics, Inc.; Waltham (MA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Boston Dynamics, Inc. seeks a Senior Staff Perception Engineer for the Stretch PerML team to define the perception stack, own core pipelines (object detection, tracking, state estimation), and set architectural direction for warehouse manipulation deployments.

You will mentor engineers, collaborate with controls, software, hardware, and product teams, and drive reliability, latency, and real-time performance in production environments.

Qualifications

• 10+ years building perception systems, including shipping software on-robot.
• Deep expertise in point cloud processing, tracking, state estimation and SLAM.
• Strong leadership in technical projects and cross-team collaboration.
• Proficient in production-quality C++ and Python; performance tuning with real data.

Responsibilities

• Set technical direction: define perception architecture and deliver reliable solutions.
• Collaborate with controls, manipulation, software, hardware, and product teams.
• Champion testing, code reviews, performance analysis and real-time system design.
• Mentor junior engineers and provide technical leadership.

Skills

Perception systems

C++

Python

SLAM

Point cloud processing

Tracking

State estimation

Sensor calibration

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Robotics or related field

Job description

We are seeking a Senior Staff Perception Engineer to join our Stretch PerML (Perception and Machine Learning) team. Our team builds and maintains systems that enable the Stretch robot to intelligently manipulate objects in its warehouse environments. As a Senior Staff Perception Engineer, you will set the technical direction for Stretch's perception stack. You will own key perception pipelines (e.g. object detection, tracking, state estimation) and drive the architecture, development, and maintenance. You will provide mentorship and technical leadership to help guide the team towards best practices in building reliable, robust, and maintainable perception systems to tackle the hardest challenges in the warehouse. This is an individual contributor role with significant technical leadership and influence beyond the immediate team.

What You'll Do

• Set technical direction: Define perception systems architecture, delivering solutions that meet customer needs and achieve performance and reliability goals.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with controls, manipulation, software, hardware, and product teams to define requirements and integrate perception systems onto the robot.
• Operational Excellence: Champion best practices, including first-principles thinking, robust testing, code reviews, performance analysis, and real-time system design.
• Mentor junior engineers at all levels within the team.

We're Looking For

• 10+ years of industry experience (or 8+ with an MS, or 6+ with a PhD) building perception systems, including shipping software on-robot.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Robotics or related field.
• Deep expertise in point cloud processing, tracking and filtering, state estimation, SLAM, and sensor calibration perception algorithms.
• Track record of technical leadership owing technical projects, setting direction, collaboration across teams for a robotics or related domain.
• Strong C++ and Python skills in production environments Experience diagnosing and improving system performance using real-world data.

Nice to Have

• Experience with real-time or latency-constrained systems and edge compute Background in warehouse, logistics, or manipulation applications Practical experience working with deep learning models for computer vision applications.

We are interested in all qualified candidates 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 $150,000 to $190,000 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.

Benefits

• medical
• dental vision
• 401(k)
• paid time off
• annual bonus structure

Additional details regarding these benefit plans will be provided if an employee receives an offer for employment.

We are growing rapidly, building a commercial company that delivers cutting edge technology and solutions to our customers from industrial applications to logistics and warehouse solutions.