Staff Software Engineer – Applied ML Research

Pickle Robot Company; Boston (MA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

Pickle Robot Company is seeking a senior applied ML engineer to own a challenging robotics problem: deciding how a robot should grasp and how to grasp it. You will fuse classical robotics with state-of-the-art neural networks, guiding a two-person team.

This is a senior role where you’ll choose approaches and own implementations, working on ML systems integrated with real robot platforms.

Qualifications

• Experience applying ML to robotics problems.
• Strong background in neural networks and computer vision.
• Hands-on with ML systems on real robot platforms.

Responsibilities

• Own the ML approach for grasp decision making in robots.
• Develop and validate algorithms in simulation and on hardware.
• Collaborate with a small team to shape system direction.

Skills

Applied ML

Robotics

Neural networks

Python

Education

MS/PhD in CS/EE/Robotics

Tools

PyTorch

ROS

TensorFlow

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 and state-of-the-art neural networks, and you'd set 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 technically deep, practically grounded problems, this is the role.