AI Software Engineer, Stretch Manipulation

Stretch is Boston Dynamics’ mobile manipulation robot built to handle multiple applications in warehouse environments. 

We are seeking a technically talented software engineer with a background in AI/ML to help advance Stretch’s manipulation capabilities through the application of data-driven techniques.

As a member of the Stretch Manipulation team, you will be a key contributor to tackling some of the most challenging technical problems in robotics. Your role will focus on the hands-on implementation of data processing and model evaluation pipelines, and model development and deployment in real-world settings. Success in this position requires a highly collaborative mindset, ambitious ideas, and rapid and meticulous execution within a dynamic, fast-paced team.

To thrive in this role:

• You are keen on applying advancements in ML/AI (e.g., reinforcement learning, imitation learning) to robotics applications: you stay in the know on latest innovations in the ML/AI space, actively look for ways to apply them, and develop and deploy learned models to enhance Stretch’s manipulation capabilities and increase robot performance.

• You recognize the value and necessity of ensuring data pipelines, evaluation frameworks, etc. scale as our business and deployed robot fleet grows: you’re excited to collaborate closely with infrastructure engineers to build and iterate on AI/ML development systems, spanning simulation, data collection, model training, validation, and deployment on real robots.

• You’re excited to collaborate with members of the manipulation team (and adjacent teams) to integrate learned components into the broader autonomy stack.

• You’re eager to contribute to cross-company efforts enabling scalable AI experimentation and deployment.

• You have a strong desire and ability to mentor and up-skill other engineers (for more senior applicants).

We’re Looking For

• Bachelor's, Master's, or Ph.D. in Computer Science, Machine Learning, or a related field; additional industry experience is a plus.

• Proficiency with modern ML frameworks/ecosystem (e.g., PyTorch, Jax, TensorFlow, RLlib, ONNX, inference servers like NVIDIA Triton).

• Familiarity with modern model architectures and learning techniques and their applications/tradeoffs.  

• Strong programming skills in Python and C++ within a Linux environment; familiarity with modern agentic programming workflows (e.g., claude code, copilot, etc.). 

• Excitement for integrating, running, and evaluating their learned policies on-robot.

• Excellent communication and collaboration skills.

Preferred

• Experience shipping learned models in a production environment.

• Experience in robotics or warehouse automation.

• Experience building and leverage high-fidelity simulation environments (e.g., Isaac Sim, MuJoCo) or augmented/virtual reality (AR/VR).

• Experience training and deploying RL policies for complex behaviors on real robots or simulated characters; experience with diffusion policy, ACT, or other modern BC architectures.

• Publications in top-tier ML conferences (e.g., NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, CoRL).

The base pay range for this position is between $192,000 to $255,000 annually. Base pay will depend on multiple individualized factors including, but not limited to internal equity, job related knowledge, skills and experience.  This range represents a good faith estimate of compensation at the time of posting. Boston Dynamics offers a generous Benefits package including medical, dental vision, 401(k), paid time off and a annual bonus structure.  Additional details regarding these benefit plans will be provided if an employee receives an offer for employment.