Robotics Research Engineer

Job description

ROBOTICS RESEARCH ENGINEER About Us We are reimagining manufacturing through advanced robotics. Our mission is to rebuild the American manufacturing industry as an AI-first, assembly-focused, dual-use contract manufacturer. We aim to empower manufacturers with intelligent, efficient, and adaptable robotic systems that redefine productivity and quality. As a founding member of our engineering team, you will have a direct and significant impact on our product, culture, and ultimate success. This role is 100% in-person at our office in the mission, SF. The Role We are hiring a Robotics Research Engineer to design, implement, and deploy intelligent robotic systems for manufacturing. This is not a purely academic role — and not a generic software role. You will work across: - ROS2-based system architecture - Manipulation and navigation - Perception and VLA-based control - Traditional controls fused with learned methods - On-site deployment in production manufacturing workcells You should be equally comfortable reading robotics papers, tuning controllers, debugging sensor calibration, and pushing production code to robots running on a factory floor. KEY RESPONSIBILITIES Robotics Systems & Architecture - Design and implement distributed robotic systems in ROS2 - Build modular autonomy stacks for manipulation and mobile platforms - Own system-level performance, latency, and reliability Robotics Foundation Models (VLA) - Develop and integrate Vision–Language–Action models for robotic control - Design data collection pipelines and fine-tune foundation models for assembly tasks - Benchmark and evaluate real-world performance Controls + Learning - Fuse traditional control with learned policies - Implement hybrid perception–planning–control architectures - Improve robustness, repeatability, and safety in physical systems Manipulation, Navigation & Deployment - Develop algorithms for dexterous manipulation and industrial navigation - Ship systems from prototype to production - Debug real-world edge cases (lighting, calibration drift, wear, latency) and maintain deployed robotic cells WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR Deployment Mentality - Experience shipping systems into real environments (not just lab demos) - Comfort debugging hardware–software integration issues - Ability to own systems end-to-end Ownership - Thrives in high-velocity, ambiguous environments - Takes full technical ownership of complex systems - Willing to get into the weeds of mechanical, electrical, and software challenges NICE TO HAVE - PhD in Robotics or related field - Experience working on dual-use or DoD-related systems - Ability to obtain a government security clearance - Experience with safety-critical robotic systems GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES - Define the technical direction of robotics foundation model deployment in manufacturing - Build and lead the autonomy team - Shape the next generation of AI-driven assembly systems - Become a core technical interface with defense and industrial partners WHY JOIN US? This is one of the only places where world-class manufacturing operators, mechanical engineers, robotics researchers, and software engineers sit in the same room — building production systems together. We are committed to being deeply embedded in the U.S. industrial base. Our focus is simple: build adaptive robotic assembly systems that make American manufacturing scalable, resilient, and competitive again. If you want to publish papers, this may not be the role. If you want to build and deploy the systems those papers were meant to enable — this is it. The base salary range for this full-time position in the location of San Francisco is: $150,000—$250,000 USD Compensation packages at Foundry Robotics for eligible roles include base salary, equity, and benefits. The range displayed on each job posting reflects the minimum and maximum target for new hire salaries for the position, determined by work location and additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, interview performance, and relevant education or training. Foundry Robotics employees in eligible roles are also granted equity based compensation, subject to Board of Director approval. You’ll also receive benefits including, but not limited to: Comprehensive health, dental and vision coverage, and generous PTO.