Senior Machine Learning Engineer (Tech Lead), Robot Learning, Loco- Manipulation
AI summary of the role
Path Robotics is forming a new Robot Learning team focused on whole-body loco-manipulation for precision tasks in heavy manufacturing.
What you’ll do
- Set the ML technical direction for the team, including architectural choices on perception, reasoning, action generation, training methodology, and data strategy.
- Design hybrid physics-ML architectures for the integrated loco-manipulation stack, owning the coupling between manipulation, locomotion, and whole-body control.
- Own architectural workstreams across action-policy learning, world-model-based supervision, and policy-orchestration interfaces.
- Drive cross-functional partnerships with hardware teams, domain experts, and customer-facing assurance standards, and lead a phased deployment strategy.
What you’ll bring
- Ph.D. or Master's in Robotics, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or related field (or equivalent experience).
- 5+ years of hands-on robot learning experience with shipped sim-to-real policies on real robots.
- Deep sim-to-real expertise (domain randomisation, system identification, teacher-student distillation, sim-to-online fine-tuning).
- Full-stack robot learning fluency across simulation, policy training, data collection, real-world deployment, and failure diagnosis.
Technologies
sim-to-real · physics-informed ML · neural ODEs · MPC · TensorRT · ONNX · Python · C++ · loco-manipulation · whole-body control
About Path Robotics
AI-powered robotic welding cells that autonomously handle complex joints without programming, combining vision systems with Obsidian foundation model trained on millions of inches of real welds.
Series D · 200–500 people
Source and classification
Internal deployment & tooling · Evidence for this classification:
Build the Path Forward At Path Robotics, we’re building the future of embodied intelligence. Our AI-driven systems enable robots to adapt, learn, and perform in the real world closing the skilled labor gap and transforming industries. We go beyond traditional methods, combining perception, reasoning, and control to deliver field-ready AI that is risk-aware, reliable, and continuously improving through real-world use. Big, hard problems are our everyday work, and our team of intelligent, humble, and driven people make the impossible possible together. We are standing up a new Robot Learning team focused on whole-body loco-manipulation for precision tasks in heavy manufacturing. We are seeking a Senior Machine Learning Engineer (Tech Lead) for this new team. You write code, set the technical direction, make the architectural decisions the team builds on, mentor junior and intermediate
More from the job description
Build the Path Forward At Path Robotics, we’re building the future of embodied intelligence. Our AI-driven systems enable robots to adapt, learn, and perform in the real world closing the skilled labor gap and transforming industries. We go beyond traditional methods, combining perception, reasoning, and control to deliver field-ready AI that is risk-aware, reliable, and continuously improving through real-world use. Big, hard problems are our everyday work, and our team of intelligent, humble, and driven people make the impossible possible together. We are standing up a new Robot Learning team focused on whole-body loco-manipulation for precision tasks in heavy manufacturing. We are seeking a Senior Machine Learning Engineer (Tech Lead) for this new team. You write code, set the technical direction, make the architectural decisions the team builds on, mentor junior and intermediate engineers, and help shape how the team works. What You’ll Do Set the ML technical direction for the team, architectural choices on perception, reasoning, and action generation; training methodology; data strategy; the path from research bet to deployed capability. As one of the first senior hires, you are designing the approach, not extending it. Own the architectural workstreams that define the team's research and engineering bets — multiple core build streams across action-policy learning, [... source excerpt omitted ...] on fixed bases; tomorrow on mobile platforms. The integration is the hard problem; you own its design. Own the cross-functional partnerships with hardware teams, domain experts, customer-facing assurance standards, and upstream / downstream teams. Drive a phased deployment strategy that builds production trust over time. Mentor and shape the team, guide junior and intermediate ICs across software, ML, robotics, and perception backgrounds; establish code-quality standards, review practices, and engineering norms; help identify and attract next hires. You write code throughout — this is a tech-lead role, not a step away from the work. Who You Are Ph.D. or Master's degree in Ro [... source excerpt omitted ...] ing. Push-back willingness — you can defend a non-obvious architectural commitment under pressure, and change your mind on evidence. Strong programming skills in Python and C++; production-quality code with reproducibility, testing, and maintainability discipline. Strong communication skills, able to convey complex technical concepts to a diverse audience. Demonstrated independent technical authority — you have set technical direction in a tech-lead capacity, leading a research subgroup, owning an architecture across multiple ICs' work, or making the architectural call on a high-profile project. Strongly Preferred: Edge inference depth (TensorRT, ONNX, edge-class deployment).
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