{"id":1296958,"url":"https://alion.io/job/watney-senior-research-engineer","title":"Senior Research Engineer","company":{"id":3812884,"name":"Watney","domain":"watney.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/watney-2","size_band":"51-200","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Ashby","truth_index":{"grade":"B","score":75,"open_postings":3,"ghost_share":0,"stale_share":1,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":null,"computed_at":"2026-09-28T05:45:00Z"}},"role":"AI/ML","role_family":"AI/ML","seniority":"senior","employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["San Francisco, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":null,"salary_estimate":{"min_usd":182000,"max_usd":330000,"period":"year","method":"role_seniority_country_remote_cell","sample_n":637},"experience_years_min":null,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"Imitation Learning","optional":false},{"name":"Python","optional":false},{"name":"PyTorch","optional":false},{"name":"Reinforcement Learning","optional":false},{"name":"Reinforcement Learning","optional":false}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-09-16T23:34:44Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-09-16","last_verified_at":"2026-09-27T22:03:49Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":11,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":11},"description":"Our Mission\nExpand human ambition in the physical world.\nCritical infrastructure is constrained by labor shortages, hazardous working conditions, and operational complexity. Watney builds and deploys autonomous robotic systems that increase the speed and capacity of buildout, starting with data centers.\nAbout the Role\nAt Watney, research engineers decide what our models learn to do next, and a live fleet of robots is the only test that counts. The plan is a staged path from imitation learning toward broader generalization, with each stage expected to yield a working model before the next one starts.\nYou will help set that path: which method to try, and whether a result actually holds up outside a benchmark.\nWhat You’ll Do\nDecide which training method to try next as the model roadmap advances.\n\nDesign the evaluation that tells you whether a result generalizes or just fits the case it was built for.\n\nTurn a promising result into something that runs on the fleet, working with the team that owns training and serving infrastructure.\n\nYou May Be a Good Fit If You:\nHave taken a training idea from a paper or a prototype to a result that held up outside a benchmark.\n\nHave worked with imitation learning, reinforcement learning, or a similar method for control, and can describe how you knew it was working or wasn't.\n\nAre comfortable when no method is settled yet and you are one of the people deciding it.\n\nWrite production ML code (Python, PyTorch, etc.).\n\nWe’re committed to building a diverse, inclusive team. At Watney Robotics, we welcome people of all backgrounds and identities, and we make hiring decisions based on skills, experience, and potential. If you’re passionate about robotics but don’t meet every requirement, we still encourage you to apply!\nCurious to learn more?\nFollow us here onX andLinkedIn","description_format":"text","description_chars":1826,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":null,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":null,"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":[],"hiring_locations":[],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":[],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-09-26T09:43:06Z"}],"liveness":{"score":86,"band":"hot","label":"Hiring now","p_open":1,"p_active":0.864,"p_room":1,"age_days":11,"expected_fill_days":42,"reasons":["conf:7","velocity","win:early"],"computed_at":"2026-09-28T05:45:00Z"},"pay":null,"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/watney-senior-research-engineer","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/watney-senior-research-engineer.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-09-28T05:51:16Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","usage":{"tier":"crawler","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":4063,"day_limit":5000,"remaining_today":937,"minute_limit":60,"resets_at":"2026-09-29T00:00:00Z"}}}