{"id":127985,"url":"https://alion.io/job/path-robotics-senior-machine-learning-engineer-tech-lead-robot-learning-loco-manipulation","title":"Senior Machine Learning Engineer (Tech Lead), Robot Learning, Loco- Manipulation","company":{"id":48166,"name":"Path Robotics","domain":"path-robotics.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/path-robotics","size_band":null,"is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Greenhouse","truth_index":{"grade":"B","score":83,"open_postings":19,"ghost_share":0,"stale_share":0.474,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":62,"computed_at":"2026-10-28T05:59:10Z"}},"role":"Robotics","role_family":"Robotics","seniority":"lead","employment_type":null,"work_mode":"remote","remote_scope":"stated_countries","remote_scope_basis":"board_field","remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Columbus, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":["US"],"hiring_countries_total":1,"salary":null,"salary_estimate":{"min_usd":147000,"max_usd":291000,"period":"year","method":"role_seniority_country_cell","sample_n":49},"experience_years_min":5,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"C++","optional":false},{"name":"Edge AI","optional":false},{"name":"Embodied AI","optional":false},{"name":"Fine-tuning","optional":false},{"name":"Knowledge Distillation","optional":false},{"name":"Machine Learning","optional":false},{"name":"Model Distillation","optional":false},{"name":"Model Predictive Control","optional":false},{"name":"ONNX","optional":false},{"name":"Python","optional":false},{"name":"Self-Supervised Learning","optional":false},{"name":"Sim-to-Real","optional":false},{"name":"TensorRT","optional":false}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-04-28T19:41:18Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-07-13","last_verified_at":"2026-10-28T22:15:47Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":183,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":0,"flags":[],"days_open":182},"description":"Build the Path Forward\nAt Path Robotics, we’re building the future of embodied intelligence. Our AI-driven systems enable robots to adapt, learn, and perform in the real world closing the skilled labor gap and transforming industries. We go beyond traditional methods, combining perception, reasoning, and control to deliver field-ready AI that is risk-aware, reliable, and continuously improving through real-world use.\nBig, hard problems are our everyday work, and our team of intelligent, humble, and driven people make the impossible possible together.\nWe are standing up a new Robot Learning team focused on whole-body loco-manipulation for precision tasks in heavy manufacturing. \nWe are seeking a Senior Machine Learning Engineer (Tech Lead) for this new team. You write code, set the technical direction, make the architectural decisions the team builds on, mentor junior and intermediate engineers, and help shape how the team works.\nWhat You’ll Do\nSet the ML technical direction for the team, architectural choices on perception, reasoning, and action generation; training methodology; data strategy; the path from research bet to deployed capability. As one of the first senior hires, you are designing the approach, not extending it.\nOwn the architectural workstreams that define the team's research and engineering bets - multiple core build streams across action-policy learning, world-model-based supervision, and policy-orchestration interfaces.\nDesign hybrid physics-ML architectures for the integrated loco-manipulation stack. Manipulation, locomotion, and the whole-body control coupling between them are not separable on legged platforms; sub-millimetre continuous-trajectory precision at the tool requires the whole-body controller to compensate for base motion in real time. Today on fixed bases; tomorrow on mobile platforms. The integration is the hard problem; you own its design.\nOwn the cross-functional partnerships with hardware teams, domain experts, customer-facing assurance standards, and upstream / downstream teams. Drive a phased deployment strategy that builds production trust over time.\nMentor and shape the team, guide junior and intermediate ICs across software, ML, robotics, and perception backgrounds; establish code-quality standards, review practices, and engineering norms; help identify and attract next hires. You write code throughout - this is a tech-lead role, not a step away from the work.\nWho You Are\nPh.D. or Master's degree in Robotics, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field or equivalent experience.\n5+ years of hands-on robot learning experience. You have shipped sim-to-real policies on real robots, across different tasks or platforms.\nDemonstrated technical leadership and mentorship. You have made architectural decisions on robot learning systems that others built on, and you have meaningfully shaped the development of more-junior engineers as a tech lead. This can be in academia (leading a lab subgroup, advising students) or industry.\nDeep sim-to-real expertise - domain randomisation, system identification, teacher-student distillation, sim-to-online fine-tuning. You can design a transfer strategy for a novel problem.\nFull-stack robot learning - fluent across simulation construction, policy training, data collection, real-world deployment, and failure diagnosis.\nPhysics-informed ML or hybrid control experience - PINNs, neural ODEs, MPC with learned dynamics, process-model-conditioned generation, or similar.\nA defensible view on visual-reasoning-centric substrates for grounded spatial / physical reasoning.\nPush-back willingness - you can defend a non-obvious architectural commitment under pressure, and change your mind on evidence.\nStrong programming skills in Python and C++; production-quality code with reproducibility, testing, and maintainability discipline.\nStrong communication skills, able to convey complex technical concepts to a diverse audience.\nDemonstrated independent technical authority - you have set technical direction in a tech-lead capacity, leading a research subgroup, owning an architecture across multiple ICs' work, or making the architectural call on a high-profile project.\nStrongly Preferred:\nEdge inference depth (TensorRT, ONNX, edge-class deployment).\nLoco-manipulation experience - locomotion, whole-body control, and manipulation on legged platforms (quadrupeds, humanoids). The coupling between the three is the hard problem; direct hands-on experience or a defensible architectural view both count.\nPrecision manipulation or surgical robotics - sub-mm accuracy tasks.\nFlow-matching action-head design at depth - direct experience with the architectural pattern.\nVisual self-supervised representation learning experience on robot or 3D-vision tasks.\nMulti-skill workflow or hierarchical policy design - skill sequencing, failure detection, control mode transitions.\nExperience building ML capability from early stage - first or second ML engineer on a team, or built a research group's infrastructure from scratch.\nWhy You’ll Love Working Here\nDaily free lunch to keep you fueled and connected with the team\nFlexible PTO so you can take the time you need, when you need it\nComprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage\n6 weeks fully paid parental leave, plus an additional 6-8 weeks for birthing parents (12-14 weeks total)\n401(k) retirement plan through Empower\nGenerous employee referral bonuses-help us grow our team!\nWho We Are\nAt Path Robotics we love coming to work to solve interesting and tough challenges but also because our ideas are welcomed and valued. We encourage unique thinking and are dedicated to creating a diverse and inclusive environment. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status.\nIf you require a reasonable accommodation to participate in the application process or any part of the hiring process, please contact . We are committed to providing equal access and will work with qualified individuals to ensure a fair and accessible hiring experience. We will respond to your request within 48 hours.","description_format":"text","description_chars":6300,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":5,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"master","optional":false},"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":["Parental leave","Retirement plans"],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"United States","iso":"US","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Industrial Robotics","Robotic Software & Control Systems"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-04-28T19:41:18Z"}],"visa":[{"country":"US","licensed_sponsor":true,"evidence":"H-1B filings in 12 months: 20","filings_12m":20,"filings_prev_12m":8,"green_card_filings_12m":0,"median_offered_wage_usd":167500,"route":null,"cap_exempt":false,"checked_at":"2026-10-15T11:24:14+00:00","sources":["US Department of Labor: LCA disclosure data (H-1B, H-1B1, E-3)","US Department of Labor: PERM disclosure data (green cards)"],"filings_for_role_12m":16}],"liveness":{"score":15,"band":"cold","label":"Long shot","p_open":1,"p_active":0.549,"p_room":0.28,"age_days":182,"expected_fill_days":62,"reasons":["conf:1","velocity","win:tail","crowd:"],"computed_at":"2026-10-28T05:59:10Z"},"pay":null,"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/path-robotics-senior-machine-learning-engineer-tech-lead-robot-learning-loco-manipulation","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/path-robotics-senior-machine-learning-engineer-tech-lead-robot-learning-loco-manipulation.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-29T00:20:35Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":374,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-30T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":48166},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=48166"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fpath-robotics-senior-machine-learning-engineer-tech-lead-robot-learning-loco-manipulation"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fpath-robotics-senior-machine-learning-engineer-tech-lead-robot-learning-loco-manipulation"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fpath-robotics-senior-machine-learning-engineer-tech-lead-robot-learning-loco-manipulation"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/path-robotics-senior-machine-learning-engineer-tech-lead-robot-learning-loco-manipulation\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fpath-robotics-senior-machine-learning-engineer-tech-lead-robot-learning-loco-manipulation"}],"agent":{"mcp":"https://alion.io/mcp/jobs","mcp_open":"https://alion.io/mcp/open","next":[{"tool":"get_job","arguments":{"id":127985}},{"tool":"search_jobs","arguments":{"company":"path-robotics.com","detail":"compact"}},{"tool":"match_people","arguments":{"job_id":127985},"note":"people open to offers who fit this vacancy"}],"note":"The same data through MCP tools: https://alion.io/mcp/open needs no sign-in (compact searches, postings, people); https://alion.io/mcp with an Alion account has everything. Docs: https://alion.io/developers"}}