Senior Technical Project Manager - AI & Robotics Foundation Models (human)

NEURA Robotics; Detroit (MI); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

NEURA Robotics seeks a Senior Technical Project Manager to lead AI and robotics foundation-model programs. You will steer teams of AI engineers, robotics engineers, and software developers to push physical AI on real robots such as MAiRA, 4NE-1, and MiPA.

You will own end-to-end delivery, set technical direction, and ensure safe, robust deployment from concept through validated hardware. Strong leadership and multilingual communication are essential.

Qualifications

• Master's degree in Computer Science, Robotics, Electrical Engineering or related field.
• 7+ years leading complex technical projects in AI or robotics.
• Deep hands-on AI knowledge with foundation models and fine-tuning experience.
• Strong background in vision-based manipulation, reinforcement or imitation learning, or multimodal models.
• Proficient in Python; C++ is a plus; experience with PyTorch or TensorFlow.
• Comfort working directly with real robot hardware and middleware.
• Cloud experience (AWS, Azure or GCP) and familiarity with robotics simulation tools.
• Strong leadership: motivate, mentor and unblock engineers; align researchers, engineers and end-users.
• Excellent command of English and German (B2–C1).

Responsibilities

• Lead multi-disciplinary teams technically and operationally — owning end-to-end delivery of AI-in-robotics projects.
• Set technical direction for fine-tuning foundation models and translate research ideas into shippable robot skills.
• Own the fine-tuning loop end-to-end: training, evaluation and iteration on real hardware.
• Drive teams to excel in algorithms, data strategies and model performance, robustness and safety.
• Orchestrate the full pipeline from teleoperation to deployment and validation across NeuraGym.
• Partner with on-site Robotics Engineers to ensure target behaviors and safety standards.
• Review training scripts, diagnose data issues and resolve model bugs with the team.
• Serve as connective tissue between AI, cloud, robotics and product teams.
• Communicate progress, risks and trade-offs to senior leadership and stakeholders.
• Lead with energy, set a bold vision and inspire the team to tackle hard problems.

Skills

Project leadership

Python & ML frameworks

Robotics hardware experience

Cloud platforms

Multimodal foundation models

Team mentoring

English & German

Education

Master's degree in Computer Science / Robotics / Electrical Engineering

Tools

PyTorch

TensorFlow

IsaacSim

MuJoCo

Job description

Senior Technical Project Manager – AI & Robotics Foundation Models

Lead the technical delivery of our most ambitious AI-driven robotics programs. In this role, you will steer cross-functional teams of AI engineers, robotics engineers and software developers to push the frontier of physical AI — fine-tuning Vision-Language-Action (VLA) models and other foundation models, and bringing them to life on real robots, from our cognitive arm MAiRA to our humanoid 4NE-1 and our service robot MiPA. You don't just manage timelines; you set the technical direction, unblock the hard problems, and bring projects over the finish line.

Your mission & challenges

• Lead multi-disciplinary teams technically and operationally — owning the end-to-end delivery of AI-in-robotics projects from concept through validated deployment on real hardware.
• Set the technical direction for fine-tuning foundation models (VLA and related multimodal architectures) and translate ambitious research ideas into shippable robot skills.
• Own the fine-tuning loop end-to-end: ensure models are trained, evaluated and iterated until they reliably perform the target task on real robot hardware.
• Drive teams to excel: scope feasibility, choose the right algorithms and data strategies, and challenge engineers to raise the bar on model performance, robustness and safety.
• Orchestrate and technically lead the full pipeline from end-to-end — teleoperation, data collection and annotation, training, simulation, deployment and validation — across our NeuraGym physical AI training center.
• Partner closely with on-site Robotics Engineers during data capture and experiments to ensure target behaviors and safety standards are met.
• Step in hands-on when blockers persist: review training scripts, diagnose data issues, help reproduce and resolve model bugs alongside the team.
• Serve as the connective tissue between AI, cloud, robotics and product teams — removing friction, aligning roadmaps, and turning lessons learned into product and platform improvements.
• Communicate progress, risks and trade-offs crisply to senior leadership and stakeholders, and make the calls that keep projects on track.
• Lead with positive energy and ambition: set a bold vision, celebrate progress, and inspire your team to take on problems others consider out of reach.

What we can look forward to

• Master's degree in Computer Science, Robotics, Electrical Engineering or a related technical field.
• 7+ years leading complex technical projects, with a proven track record of bringing AI or robotics products from prototype to production.
• Deep, hands-on AI know-how — strong grasp of modern foundation models and demonstrable experience fine-tuning them (VLA, vision-language, or multimodal models) for real-world applications.
• Solid background in at least one of: vision-based manipulation, reinforcement or imitation learning, or multimodal models — and the curiosity to master the rest.
• Proficient in Python (C++ a plus) with practical experience in PyTorch or TensorFlow; comfortable reading and reviewing your team's training code.
• Comfortable working directly with real robot hardware and associated middleware.
• Cloud experience (AWS, Azure, or GCP) and familiarity with robotic simulation tools (IsaacSim, MuJoCo, etc.) is a strong plus.
• A natural technical leader: you motivate, mentor and unblock engineers, set a high bar, and translate fluently between researchers, engineers and end-users.
• Strong project management instincts (Agile / Scrum); PMP, PRINCE2 or similar a plus, but technical credibility comes first.
• Excellent command of English and German (B2–C1).