Physical AI Researcher

About the jobWe're looking for a Physical AI Researcher passionate about redefining the foundation of labor through robotics. You'll help lead the research effort to solve some of the biggest hurdles in robotics: reliability and data efficiency for manipulation. Supported by our humanoid platform that has been shipping for the past year, you will do applied research that brings Physical AI ever closer to mainstream commercial deployment.About FeatherFeather is a VC-backed startup assembling a world-class team to build general-purpose robots. While competitors pursue end-to-end integration, we are focused on creating the best labor platform on which others will build, monetize, and scale, fostering an ecosystem of solutions akin to Apple’s or Nvidia’s.We’ve moved through the hardware lifecycle at lightspeed -- building our first prototype in two months, fulfilling our first order in nine months (vs. 31 months for Figure), and working with a $4B revenue manufacturer. Our units are deployed across several fields today, including cooking, retail, manufacturing, and more.ResponsibilitiesDevelop, train, and deploy machine learning models for general-purpose robotsImplement and optimize algorithms in areas such as imitation learning, RL, diffusion policies, VLA, and navigationCollaborate with robotics engineers to integrate perception, control, and cognition into a unified systemConduct applied research that pushes Physical AI forward, with an emphasis on commercial viabilityAnalyze performance, debug complex behaviors, and continuously improve model robustness in the real worldQualificationsMS or PhD in EECS, Robotics, CS, AI, or a related field, or equivalent industry experienceStrong background in machine learning, with applied work in robotics or embodied AIExperience with one or more of: Vision-Language Models (VLAs), imitation learning, diffusion policies, reinforcement learning, navigationProficiency in Python and modern ML frameworks (e.g., PyTorch, TensorFlow)Track record of impactful projects, whether in academia, open-source, or industryPublications in top robotics conferences (ICRA, CoRL, RSS, IROS, etc.)Why Join UsOwn the whole research stack and be one of the principal architects of our humanoid platform instead of only working on a small fragmentShape the future of robotics and physical AI in a tight-knit, driven team that values ownership, speed, and creativityWe have the capital, the hardware ownership, and the generational upside to make this your life's work