{"id":833461,"url":"https://alion.io/job/roboforce-lead-ai-research-engineer-embodied-systems","title":"Lead AI Research Engineer, Embodied Systems","company":{"id":686554,"name":"RoboForce","domain":"roboforce.ai","url":"https://alion.io/company/roboforce","size_band":"51-200","is_staffing_agency":false,"is_intermediary":false,"ats_vendor":"Greenhouse","truth_index":{"grade":"C","score":55,"open_postings":16,"ghost_share":0.75,"stale_share":0,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":null,"computed_at":"2026-09-23T05:45:00Z"}},"role":"AI/ML","role_family":"AI/ML","seniority":"lead","employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Milpitas, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":{"min":190000,"max":265000,"currency":"USD","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":265000},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":null,"visa_sponsorship":true,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":true,"technologies":[{"name":"C++","optional":false},{"name":"Embodied AI","optional":false},{"name":"Imitation Learning","optional":false},{"name":"Physical AI","optional":false},{"name":"Python","optional":false},{"name":"Reinforcement Learning","optional":false},{"name":"Reinforcement Learning","optional":false},{"name":"ROS","optional":false},{"name":"ROS2","optional":false},{"name":"Teleoperation","optional":false},{"name":"Vision-Language-Action","optional":false}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-07-02T22:54:26Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-08-07","last_verified_at":"2026-09-23T09:22:27Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":82,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":0,"flags":["company_stale"],"days_open":82},"description":"Why RoboForce\nRoboForce is an AI robotics company developing Physical AI-powered Robo-Labor for dull, dirty, and dangerous work. The company's robots are engineered for demanding industrial environments, with a focus on real-world deployment and scalability.\nWe are looking for a Lead AI Research Engineer, Embodied Systems to lead and own the engineering of the systems that turn embodied AI into real-world robot behavior. You will be the technical owner and lead for the full embodied systems stack - the onboard AI system, the data collection system, the teleoperation systems, and the on-robot reinforcement learning system - driving the direction hands-on and closing the loop between data, models, and action in the physical world.\nResponsibilities\nLead and own, from the engineering side, the embodied systems that power RoboForce's data flywheel - the onboard AI (inference) system, the data collection system, the teleoperation systems and the on-robot reinforcement learning system.\n\nSet the technical direction and architecture for how learned models run, are evaluated, and improve on real robots.\n\nDeliver these systems end-to-end on physical robots - from bring-up through reliable, real-time operation in demanding industrial environments.\n\nOwn on-robot deployment and closed-loop evaluation of policies, turning real-world performance into measurable improvements.\n\nPartner with and influence the robotics software team and the ML research team to align interfaces and priorities across the stack.\n\nGrow the direction - mentor engineers and raise the technical bar for embodied systems work.\n\nRequirements\nBachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Robotics, Electrical Engineering, or related field with significant relevant experience, or a PhD degree.\n\nTrack record of leading complex robotic or embodied systems end-to-end and setting technical direction for other engineers.\n\nStrong proficiency in both C++ and Python, with solid systems programming and real-time / performance-critical engineering skills.\n\nHands-on experience with ROS/ROS2 and robot middleware, including real-time integration of sensing, control, and compute.\n\nExperience integrating and deploying ML models/policies into real-time robotic or autonomous systems - system ownership and building, rather than model training or research.\n\nRequires 5 days/week in-office collaboration with the teams.\n\nBonus Qualifications\nExperience with teleoperation and data-collection systems (e.g., VR, UR, GELLO, UMI) and the challenges of collecting high-quality robot data at scale.\n\nExperience with on-robot reinforcement learning or closed-loop policy-improvement systems.\n\nFamiliarity with robot learning policies (VLA, imitation learning, behavior cloning) and their real-time inference and control-integration characteristics.\n\nFamiliarity with manipulation stacks, whole-body control interfaces, or real-time middleware tuning.\n\nBenefits\nCompetitive stock options/equity programs.\n\nHealth, dental, and vision insurance, 401(k) plan.\n\nVisa sponsorship and green card support for qualified candidates.\n\nLunches and dinners, a fully stocked kitchen, and regular team-building events.\n\nCompensation: Salary $190,000-$265,000 USD + Bonus + Equity\nThe base salary range above represents the expected compensation for this full-time U.S. position. Final compensation will be determined based on role scope, level, location, job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training, and may fall outside the listed range in exceptional cases.","description_format":"text","description_chars":3538,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":null,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"bachelor","optional":false},"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":["Equity","Stock options","Vision insurance"],"hiring_locations":[],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Robotics"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-09-12T17:41:26Z"}],"liveness":{"score":9,"band":"cold","label":"Long shot","p_open":1,"p_active":0.329,"p_room":0.28,"age_days":82,"expected_fill_days":34,"reasons":["conf:8","stale_co","win:tail","crowd:"],"computed_at":"2026-09-23T05:45:00Z"},"pay":{"stated_usd_annual":265000,"is_top_pay":true},"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/roboforce-lead-ai-research-engineer-embodied-systems","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/roboforce-lead-ai-research-engineer-embodied-systems.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-09-23T18:05:08Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers"}}