AI Engineer - Robotics

AI Engineer - Vision-Language-Action Foundation ModelsLocation: On-site, Bay Area (CA)About the roleA well-funded, early-stage physical AI company is building a vision-language-action (VLA) foundation model that turns real-world robots into intelligent, autonomous agents. Think of it as a large multimodal model that outputs motor control instead of text - perceiving the environment, reasoning about it, and acting on it in real time.The model runs onboard, at the edge, in real time, even in GPS- and comms-denied environments. Prototypes across ground and air platforms are already operational in the field today. You'd be joining a small, hand-picked founding team drawn from leading robotics, autonomous-vehicle, and foundation-model backgrounds - solving genuinely unsolved problems in embodied intelligence, and shipping them onto real hardware rather than benchmarks.This is applied AI, not pure research. If you want your models controlling physical machines in the real world, this is that role.What you'll work onBuilding vision-language-action models that fuse perception, reasoning, and controlMultimodal model fusion, continual learning, and domain adaptationReal-time inference on embedded / edge systems (GPU, sub-200ms latency)Dynamic memory systems and multi-agent coordination (formations, convoys, swarms)Long-horizon autonomy and chain-of-thought reasoning for multi-step missionsTaking research concepts through to production-grade, deployed systemsWhat we're looking for2+ years hands-on AI/ML modeling experience (senior candidates: 5+ with demonstrated leadership)Strong background in one or more of: reinforcement learning, imitation learning, transformers, multimodal architecturesExposure to embodied AI or robotics is a major plusProficiency in Python and PyTorch (JAX, TensorFlow, CUDA a bonus)Proven ability to translate research into robust, production-level codeMS or PhD preferred, ideally from a strong program; side projects and portfolios welcomedMust be eligible for U.S. export-controlled work (U.S. person status - citizen or green card - required)Who thrives hereComfortable in a fast-moving, high-autonomy startup environmentDeeply curious - keeps current with the latest VLM / RL / CV literatureBiased toward execution, but grounded in strong research fundamentalsMotivated by hard real-world problems and hands-on work close to the hardwareWe'll share full company details during the first conversation. To apply, reach out with your résumé and any relevant projects, publications, or portfolio links.