Founding Research Scientist at stealth physical AI startup

About the role

You will lead the research function at a venture-backed startup solving the data bottleneck in robotics. By training end-to-end manipulation policies and designing evaluation frameworks, you will bridge the gap between high-quality real-world interaction data and model performance. This hands-on role offers significant equity and the chance to build a research stack from zero.

Responsibilities

• Train and evaluate real-world robot manipulation policies using imitation learning, diffusion policies, or vision-language-action models.
• Build the end-to-end data-to-policy validation pipeline to ensure high-quality tactile and interaction data translates to performance.
• Work alongside hardware and software teams to define the research roadmap and iterate on differentiated data collection methods.

Requirements

• Proven track record training manipulation policies on physical hardware, focusing on dexterous manipulation or tactile sensing.
• PhD from a top-tier robotics laboratory or extensive research experience at a leading organization specializing in physical foundation models.
• Strong desire to work in an early-stage, hands-on individual contributor role with the ambition to build a research function from scratch.

Qualifications

• Expertise in robotics and machine learning.
• Experience with robotics hardware and software development.
• Strong problem-solving skills and ability to work independently.

Skills

• Deep understanding of manipulation policies and evaluation frameworks.
• Proficiency in programming languages relevant to robotics and machine learning.
• Experience with data collection and analysis techniques.

Benefits

• Significant equity in the company.
• Ownership of the research agenda.
• Opportunity to build a research function from scratch.

Pay

Not Disclosed

Schedule

Full-time

Benefits

• Health insurance
• Flexible work schedule
• Professional development opportunities

Location

San Francisco, USA

Why this role is remarkable

• Rare opportunity to join as a founding member with minority co-founder level equity and full ownership of the research agenda.
• Work at the critical intersection of robotics and data infrastructure, solving the primary bottleneck preventing the scaling of physical AI.
• Collaborate directly with a technical founding team in a high-autonomy environment where you set the research direction and validation strategy.

How to apply

Jack is here to help you through the entire process. If you're interested, he can introduce you to the right person at the company. Otherwise, he can provide you with alternative job opportunities.

Disclaimer

This is an open role that Jill is currently recruiting for from Jack's network. Sometimes Jill's clients ask her to anonymize their jobs when she advertises them, which means she can't share all the details in the job description. We appreciate this can make them look a bit suspect, but there isn't much we can do about it. Give Jack a spin! You could land this role. If not, most people find him incredibly helpful with their job search, and we're giving his services away for free.