×
Register Here to Apply for Jobs or Post Jobs. X

Research Scientist

Job in San Francisco, San Francisco County, California, 94199, USA
Listing for: Deft Robotics
Full Time position
Listed on 2026-07-28
Job specializations:
  • Software Development
    Machine Learning/ ML Engineer, Robotics
Salary/Wage Range or Industry Benchmark: 150000 - 250000 USD Yearly USD 150000.00 250000.00 YEAR
Job Description & How to Apply Below

Page 1 of 2

Founding Research Scientist

What you'll do

  • Design and develop robot autonomy software stack and algorithms to enable capabilities including grasping and more dexterous behaviors in unstructured environments
  • Research and implement state-of-the-art robot learning policies, including reinforcement learning and imitation learning-based techniques
  • Build reliable, high-speed robot autonomy software stack optimized for inference performance
  • Design and maintain robust data collection and curation pipelines for production robot fleets
  • Optimize robot policies for distributed training at scale and real-time edge deployment
  • Ship production quality, safety-critical software
  • Advance SOTA dexterous manipulation research through novel methodologies while bridging theory & practice—real customer use-cases with clear success criteria.

Required Qualifications

  • PhD or MS degree in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Robotics, or equivalent technical discipline
  • Deep expertise in machine learning fundamentals, reinforcement learning, and associated frameworks (PyTorch, Tensor Flow, Ray, etc.)
  • 3+ years of proven track record developing and deploying ML systems from research through production implementation
  • Hands-on experience with model lifecycle management including training, deployment, and maintenance in production settings

Preferred Qualifications

  • Authored or co-authored peer-reviewed publications in robotics or related fields
  • Hands-on experience designing and implementing bimanual manipulation tech stacks with imitation learning or RL-based methods
  • Background in real-time ML inference systems, simulation-to-reality transfer, or advanced reinforcement learning implementations

Benefits

  • We support publishing at top robotics/ML venues and presenting at conferences (travel + time fully covered).
  • Medical, dental & vision plans
  • Daily meals stipend

Hiring Process

  • Phone screen + 3 virtual technical interviews + onsite

Expected Compensation

  • $150,000 - $250,000 annual salary + cash and stock awards + benefits
  • The pay offered for this position may vary based on several individual factors, including job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. The total compensation package may also include additional components/benefits depending on the specific role. This information will be shared if an employment offer is extended.

Application

Required

Resume

Required

What is the hardest problem you've worked on (or describe your most significant research result)? How did you solve it?

Required

When is the earliest date you can start?

Required

Onsite Work Requirement

Required

This is a full-time, five-day-a-week onsite role in our San Francisco, CA, office. Please confirm if you can meet this onsite requirement.

US Work Authorization

Required

Are you a US Citizen, Green Card Holder or Valid Visa Holder (H1-B, O-1, TN, E-3, OPT, etc)?

#J-18808-Ljbffr
To View & Apply for jobs on this site that accept applications from your location or country, tap the button below to make a Search.
(If this job is in fact in your jurisdiction, then you may be using a Proxy or VPN to access this site, and to progress further, you should change your connectivity to another mobile device or PC).
 
 
 
Search for further Jobs Here:
(Try combinations for better Results! Or enter less keywords for broader Results)
Location
Increase/decrease your Search Radius (miles)
0
200
Filters
Education Level
Experience Level (years)
Posted in last:
Salary