Software Engineer V – Applied ML Research

Pickle Robot Company; Northern (KY); Hybrid; USD 170,000 - 230,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

Unlimited vacation

401(k) contributions

Travel expenses

Job summary

Pickle Robot Company is seeking an applied ML engineer to own one of our hardest technical problems: how a robot decides what to grasp, and how to grasp it, blending classical robotics with state-of-the-art neural networks.

This senior, hybrid role is based at our Charlestown, MA headquarters. You’ll translate research into robust production systems, validate ideas in simulation, and collaborate closely with perception and motion planning teams to move fast and safely.

Qualifications

• 6+ years shipping end-to-end ML systems in production.
• Experience deploying ML models in active robotic systems.
• BS or higher in Robotics, CS, or related field.
• Strong Python and software engineering practices.

Responsibilities

• Own the intelligence driving robots' physical interactions and determine gripper configurations.
• Translate research into production systems; modify architectures and deploy to the robotic fleet.
• Design evaluation infrastructure to prove model efficacy in live environments.
• Engineer grasping strategies in high-fidelity simulations before hardware deployment.
• Collaborate with perception and motion planning experts and drive technical reviews.
• Leverage AI coding assistants and modern development practices to accelerate velocity.

Skills

Proven ML Track Record

Applied Robotics Expertise

Architectural Depth

Cloud ML Proficiency

Engineering Excellence

Foundational Robotics Knowledge

Academic Foundation

Cross-Disciplinary Communication

Local Collaboration

Education

BS or higher in Robotics, Computer Science, or related field

Tools

Isaac Sim

MuJoCo

GCP

Job description

About Us

At Pickle Robot, we're on a mission to automate global supply chains with Physical AI. Our robots work alongside warehouse teams to unload trucks and containers — one of the toughest, most understaffed jobs in logistics — making the work safer, faster, and more efficient for the people doing it. Loading trucks comes next, followed by the Dill Autonomy Engine: generalized autonomy that will eventually orchestrate robots across entire logistics processes.

We're looking for an applied ML engineer to own one of our hardest technical problems: how a robot decides what to grasp, and how to grasp it. The answer is a fusion of classical robotics with state-of-the-art neural networks, and you'd be the person setting its direction on a team of two.

This is a senior seat — you'll be trusted to pick the approach, not just implement one. If you've gotten your hands dirty with both ML systems and real robot platforms, and you want problems that are technically deep and practically grounded, this is the role.

What You'll Do

• Spearhead Robotic Grasping: Take end-to-end ownership of the intelligence driving our robots' physical interactions, dynamically determining optimal gripper configurations and tool selections for diverse, complex objects.

• Bridge Research and Reality: Translate cutting-edge machine learning research into robust production systems. You will modify novel architectures, orchestrate training pipelines, deploy directly to our robotic fleet, and drive continuous improvement based on real-world field telemetry.

• Architect Ground-Truth Evaluation: Design and implement rigorous evaluation infrastructure that proves model efficacy in live, chaotic environments (like real trailers) — moving beyond static benchmarks to guarantee true operational performance.

• Pioneer Simulation-First Development: Engineer and validate sophisticated grasping and manipulation strategies within high-fidelity simulations to ensure flawless execution before deploying to physical hardware.

• Drive Cross-Functional Technical Vision: Collaborate closely with perception and motion planning experts, setting the technical bar through rigorous code reviews, innovative design discussions, and collaborative debugging.

• Leverage Force-Multiplying Workflows: Utilize advanced AI coding assistants and modern development paradigms to accelerate engineering velocity, allowing you to achieve outsized impact and move faster than traditional teams.

What You'll Bring

• Proven ML Track Record: 6+ years of experience shipping end-to-end machine learning systems — spanning data pipelines, training, evaluation, and deployment — and maintaining ownership in production. (An MS degree counts as two years of experience).

• Applied Robotics Expertise: Demonstrated success deploying machine learning models within complex, active physical robotic systems.

• Architectural Depth: Deep expertise in bespoke model design. You don't just rely on off-the-shelf APIs; you possess the ability to fundamentally reshape neural networks to solve unique, domain-specific challenges.

• Cloud ML Proficiency: Fluency and comfort in architecting and running medium-to-large-scale training pipelines in cloud environments.

• Engineering Excellence: Mastery of Python and modern software engineering best practices.

• Foundational Robotics Knowledge: A solid grasp of classical robotics concepts, including motion planning, kinematics, geometry, and perception.

• Academic Foundation: A BS or higher in Robotics, Computer Science, or a closely related technical field.

• Cross-Disciplinary Communication: The ability to distill complex ML concepts and collaborate effectively with engineers across different specialized domains.

• Local Collaboration: Ability to work from our dynamic Charlestown, MA headquarters at least 3 days a week in a hybrid capacity.

Preferred

• A background spanning both perception and motion planning.

• Simulation tooling for robotics development (Isaac Sim, MuJoCo).

• GCP specifically.

• AI coding assistants already part of your daily workflow.

Pay at Pickle

At Pickle Robot Company, we believe transparency builds trust. The salary range listed here is provided in accordance with Massachusetts law and reflects what we reasonably and in good faith expect to offer for this role. We often consider candidates at different levels of seniority, and final compensation will reflect the level at which a candidate is hired, along with factors like experience and location.

Pickle Perks

Pickle provides best-in-class benefits, including health, dental, and vision insurance; unlimited vacation; paid federal and state holidays; 401(k) contributions of 5% of your salary; company-covered travel expenses; and other perks to make your working life more fun, comfortable, and productive.