# Robotics Scientist (Policy Learning)

**Company:** [Preload](https://zerogtalent.com/robotics-companies/preload)
**Location:** San Francisco, CA
**Work mode:** On-site
**Employment type:** Full Time
**Salary:** USD 150K–225K/yr
**Category:** Science
**Department:** Engineering
**Listed:** 2026-11-10

[View and apply on Zero G Talent](https://zerogtalent.com/robotics-jobs/preload/robotics-scientist-policy-learning-121719)

## What you'll do

- Train manipulation policies using multimodal human data
- Deploy and evaluate policies on real robot hardware
- Design benchmarks for tactile and EMG performance gains
- Feed results to shape data collection and processing
- Help customers and partners get value from datasets

## What you need

- 2+ yrs training and deploying robot learning policies
- Strong Python and PyTorch skills
- Experience with ROS or similar robotics stacks
- Hands-on real robot manipulation, not only simulation
- Tactile sensing, dexterous hands, or human demonstrations experience

## Job description

**About Preload**

Preload builds the data layer for physical AI. Robots learn mostly from video, but human interaction is much richer: touch, force, and muscle activity. We build a wearable multimodal stack (egocentric video, tactile gloves, EMG) to capture how people actually interact with the physical world, and turn it into datasets robotics teams can train on. We're a YC (F26) team of PhD founders from Johns Hopkins and Caltech with backgrounds at Neuralink, Paradromics, and other neurotech companies.

**The role**

You'll prove our data makes robots better. You'll train and deploy manipulation policies on our sensorimotor datasets and benchmark the gains against video-only baselines.

**What you'll do**

-   Train manipulation policies (imitation learning, VLAs, RL) using our multimodal human data
-   Deploy and evaluate policies on real robot hardware
-   Design benchmarks that measure how tactile and EMG data improve performance
-   Feed results back to shape what we collect and how we process it
-   Help customers and partners get value from our datasets

**What we're looking for**

-   2+ years training and deploying robot learning policies (industry or research)
-   Strong Python and PyTorch; experience with ROS or similar robotics stacks
-   Hands-on experience with real robot manipulation, not only simulation
-   Experience with tactile sensing, dexterous hands, or learning from human demonstrations is a plus
-   PhD or MS in robotics, ML, or related field is a plus

**Why join**

Early, in-person team in San Francisco. Your benchmarks will be the core proof point of the company.

## Other open roles at Preload

- [Summer 2027 Intern (Any Team)](https://zerogtalent.com/robotics-jobs/preload/summer-2027-intern-any-team-121727) — San Francisco, CA
- [Mechanical / Soft-Goods Designer (Wearables)](https://zerogtalent.com/robotics-jobs/preload/mechanical-soft-goods-designer-wearables-121725) — San Francisco, CA
- [Pitch Your Own Role](https://zerogtalent.com/robotics-jobs/preload/pitch-your-own-role-121724) — San Francisco, CA
- [Software Engineer, Data Platform](https://zerogtalent.com/robotics-jobs/preload/software-engineer-data-platform-121721) — San Francisco, CA
- [Sensor Engineer (Wearables)](https://zerogtalent.com/robotics-jobs/preload/sensor-engineer-wearables-121720) — San Francisco, CA

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*Source: [Zero G Talent](https://zerogtalent.com), the job board for space, defense, AI, robotics and frontier-tech companies.*