Robot Learning Engineer

About LightSpeed LightSpeed Build Technologies is revolutionizing the construction industry through AI-powered robotics. Our flagship systems—BRUTE for automated wall panel manufacturing and DEX for on-site collaborative construction—are addressing the global housing crisis by delivering unprecedented speed, precision, and affordability in homebuilding. Position Overview As a Robot Learning Engineer, you will teach our robots to perform complex manipulation tasks from human demonstration. You will own the path from demonstration to deployed behavior: building the teleoperation systems that capture how skilled people do the work, turning that data into trained policies, and proving those policies on real robots with dexterous hands and custom tooling. You'll also shape how we learn from video of people doing the work itself. This role is hands-on, fast-moving, and measured by one thing: robots that reliably do the job. What You'll Work On Teleoperation & Demonstration Data Build and improve teleoperation pipelines using leader arms for bulk arm motion and VR hand tracking for fine, finger-level interactionRetarget human hand motion to a dexterous robot hand, developing in simulation first and validating on hardwareDesign data collection protocols so demonstrations are consistent, well-structured, and train wellDefine what data is worth collecting and how much, and guide technicians who run collection sessions Policy Learning Train and fine-tune manipulation policies using imitation learning and vision-language-action (VLA) modelsChoose policy architectures and action representations suited to multi-step, contact-rich tasksCombine teleoperation data with human demonstration video to improve policiesIterate quickly from data to trained policy to real-robot trial Evaluation & Deployment Define and run evaluation protocols on real robots, measuring success rate per task stepDiagnose failures across data, model, and hardware, and fix the right oneDeploy policies on robots with ROS2-based control and optimize inference for real-time performanceWork with integration engineers to run policies across a full task sequence Data Pipeline & Vendor Oversight Define dataset formats and data quality standards for trainingSupervise external partners who build data pipeline infrastructure and label human demonstration video, and set specs and accept deliveriesPrototype extraction of useful training signals from egocentric (head-mounted camera) video in-house before scaling it out Required Qualifications Robot Learning 3+ years of hands-on experience in robot learning, ML for robotics, or closely related production MLExperience training policies from demonstrations on physical robots using imitation learning (e.g., ACT, Diffusion Policy, or similar)Experience collecting teleoperation or demonstration data for robot learningStrong PyTorch skills and experience running training, evaluation, and debugging end to endTrack record of evaluating models in the real world and diagnosing failures Robotics & Software Strong Python; working C++Experience with ROS or ROS2 and real robot hardwareUnderstanding of manipulator kinematics and control fundamentalsProficiency with Linux, Docker, and Git Preferred Qualifications MS or PhD in Robotics, Machine Learning, Computer Science, or a related fieldExperience fine-tuning VLA or foundation models for robot controlExperience with dexterous hands, VR hand tracking, or motion retargetingExperience building or using leader-follower teleoperation systemsExperience learning from human video or egocentric dataExperience building and maintaining large-scale robotics datasetsRobotics simulation experience with MuJoCo, Isaac Sim, or similarExperience with robot learning datasets and tooling (e.g., LeRobot, rosbag, MCAP)Experience managing data vendors or labeling workflowsBackground in manufacturing, industrial automation, or construction technology Why Join LightSpeed Teach real robots to do skilled work that addresses the housing crisisOwn the full loop from human demonstration to deployed robot behaviorWork with dexterous hands, custom tooling, and human demonstration data at scaleHands-on culture with direct access to robots, sensors, and manufacturing environmentsCompetitive compensation and comprehensive benefits Employment Relationship This position is at-will, meaning either you or the Company may terminate employment at any time, with or without cause or notice. Equal Opportunity LightSpeed Build Technologies is an equal opportunity employer committed to building a diverse and inclusive workplace. We welcome candidates from all backgrounds and experiences. Compensation Range: $100K - $120K