1.77 Robotics Research AI Engineer: Robot Learning - Pittsburgh

Field AI is transforming how robots interact with the real world. We are building risk-aware, reliable, and field-ready AI systems that address the most complex challenges in robotics, unlocking the full potential of embodied intelligence. We go beyond typical data-driven approaches or pure transformer-based architectures, and are charting a new course, with already-globally-deployed solutions delivering real-world results and rapidly improving models through real-field applications.

About the Job

We are looking for a Robotics Research AI Engineer (Robot Learning) to push the frontier of embodied intelligence. In this role, you will design and deploy cutting-edge learning algorithms that enable robots to acquire new skills across a wide range of embodiments. You will contribute to research and large-scale training of foundation models for robotics, spanning visual-language models (VLMs), large language models (LLMs), and control policies. Your work will directly impact robot capabilities in the field, from traversability to dexterous manipulation, shaping how intelligent robots operate in unstructured real-world environments.

This is a role for someone who thrives at the intersection of research and engineering—building scalable learning systems while advancing state of the art in robot learning.

What You’ll Get To Do

• Develop Robot Skill Learning Methods
• Design and train algorithms that enable robots to acquire generalizable skills across diverse embodiments.
• Integrate reinforcement learning, imitation learning, and foundation models into real robot pipelines.
• Advance Robotics Foundation Models
• Leverage and adapt VLMs and LLMs to robotics tasks, including perception, reasoning, and action planning.
• Explore large-scale pretraining and fine-tuning approaches tailored to embodied intelligence.
• Large-Scale Training and Deployment
• Build and optimize large-scale distributed training pipelines using PyTorch and modern ML infrastructure.
• Deploy models onto real robots, bridging the gap between simulation and field-ready execution.
• Real-World Robotic Applications
• Work on core challenges in traversability, mobile robotics, and manipulation.
• Collaborate with hardware engineers to validate algorithms in unstructured, high-variance environments.
• Research and Publication
• Conduct cutting-edge research and publish in top robotics, AI, and machine learning venues.
• Contribute to the broader robotics research community while advancing Field AI’s mission.

What You Have

• Strong research background (PhD, MS, or equivalent industry research experience) in Robotics, AI/ML, or related fields.
• Proficiency in robot learning methods (reinforcement learning, imitation learning, representation learning).
• Experience with PyTorch and modern ML training frameworks.
• Hands-on experience with real robots (mobile platforms, manipulators, or other embodiments).
• Strong foundation in large-scale distributed training and optimization.
• Ability to translate research into practical, field-deployable systems.
• Excellent problem-solving skills and ability to thrive in fast-paced, interdisciplinary teams.

The Extras That Set You Apart

• Publications in top-tier conferences/journals (CoRL, ICRA, IROS, NeurIPS, ICML, CVPR, etc.).
• Experience deploying VLMs/LLMs in robotics pipelines.
• Background in 3D vision, mapping, or traversability analysis.
• Experience in sim-to-real transfer for manipulation and locomotion.
• Familiarity with modern robot middleware (ROS2, Isaac, etc.).
• Strong software engineering practices (CI/CD, testing, scalable infrastructure).
• Contributions to open-source robotics or ML frameworks.

Compensation and Benefits

Our salary range is generous ($70,000 - $200,000 annual), but we take into consideration an individual's background and experience in determining final salary; base pay offered may vary considerably depending on geographic location, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. Also, while we enjoy being together on-site, we are open to exploring a hybrid or remote option.

Why Join Field AI?

We are solving one of the world’s most complex challenges: deploying robots in unstructured, previously unknown environments. Our Field Foundational Models™ set a new standard in perception, planning, localization, and manipulation, ensuring our approach is explainable and safe for deployment.

You will have the opportunity to work with a world-class team that thrives on creativity, resilience, and bold thinking. With a decade-long track record of deploying solutions in the field , winning DARPA challenge segments, and bringing expertise from organizations like DeepMind, NASA JPL, Boston Dynamics, NVIDIA, Amazon, Tesla Autopilot, Cruise Self-Driving, Zoox, Toyota Research Institute, and SpaceX, we are set to achieve our ambitious goals.

Be Part of the Next Robotics Revolution

To tackle such ambitious challenges, we need a team as unique as our vision — innovators who go beyond conventional methods and are eager to tackle tough, uncharted questions. We’re seeking individuals who challenge the status quo, dive into uncharted territory, and bring interdisciplinary expertise. Our team requires not only top AI talent but also exceptional software developers, engineers, product designers, field deployment experts, and communicators.

We are headquartered in always-sunny Mission Viejo (Irvine adjacent), Southern California and have US based and global teammates.

Join us, shape the future, and be part of a fun, close-knit team on an exciting journey!

We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. Candidates and employees are always evaluated based on merit, qualifications, and performance. We will never discriminate on the basis of race, color, gender, national origin, ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, martial status, mental or physical disability, or any other legally protected status.