Founding Research Engineer (ML, Perception and Manipulation)

About the role

Our mission is to build the foundational layer for robotics AI. Lucky Robots is creating a simulation platform that is a game engine built for robots instead of players, where every pixel, object, and interaction is controlled for training. It is the local workspace where developers generate data, train models, and push those models to real robots without rewriting everything each time. The platform produces high fidelity synthetic data at scale so models learn robust manipulation and perception skills, then transfer to physical robots with minimal loss. Your contributions directly shape the systems that make this possible.

We work closely as a small team dedicated to building products developers love. We take on ambitious problems and value ownership, thoughtful risk taking, and focused effort. We care about impact and take pride in building tools that save time and energy. People who enjoy learning, thinking deeply, and pushing through hard problems fit well here.

As a Founding Perception Engineer, you will join early and have significant ownership and direct impact on the product and the team.

Apply even if you do not meet every requirement. Tell us how you can contribute and why this work matters to you.

If you meet the qualifications but have not held a past robotics or ML role at a US based company, apply for one of the following roles instead:

Sr Research Engineer (ML, Perception and Manipulation)

Research Engineer (ML, Perception and Manipulation)

Responsibilities

• Transform real world problems into specific machine learning tasks
• Design and develop computer vision algorithms
• Build neural network architectures tailored to simulation and robotics needs
• Develop and integrate 3D geometry based perception systems
• Create scalable ML infrastructure for large datasets and reproducible workflows
• Improve accuracy and efficiency of ML systems on an ongoing basis
• Deploy ML models to edge devices with limited compute
• Contribute toward achieving level 5 autonomy for consumer robotics
• Help hire your future teammates and guide their work

Qualifications

• Strong background in ML for perception including 3D perception, multi class object detection, mapping, and robotics control
• 5+ years experience in ML for robotics or at a leading US based AI startup or US based entity where experience clearly transfers to robotics
• Experience applying research to production settings
• Proficiency in Rust or C++ and Python with PyTorch
• Ability to write clean and reliable code

Bonus

• Motivation to support and lift your team
• Curiosity and willingness to learn
• Energy for solving complex problems
• Drive to produce your best work