Research Scientist, Reinforcement Learning - Atlas

At Boston Dynamics, we are pushing the boundaries of what advanced humanoid robots can do in the real world. The Atlas team is building next-generation whole-body mobile manipulation capabilities, and we are seeking a curious, driven Research Scientist to develop cutting‑edge reinforcement learning (RL) solutions that run directly on our humanoid platforms.

In this role, you will design, train, and deploy RL policies that combine whole-body movement and dexterous manipulation to solve complex tasks in unstructured environments. You’ll work with a world‑class team of roboticists and have rare, direct access to our physical Atlas robots and large‑scale simulation infrastructure.

• Design, implement, and train reinforcement learning algorithms for challenging whole-body mobile manipulation and bimanual manipulation tasks.
• Develop high-quality Python and C++ code that is tested, documented, and production‑ready.
• Build and leverage high‑fidelity simulation environments (e.g., Isaac Sim, Mu Jo Co ) to validate RL policies before deploying on hardware.
• Integrate learned policies with Atlas’s control and software stack through close collaboration with controls and platform teams.
• Deploy, debug, and iterate policies directly on real Atlas hardware through hands‑on experimentation.
• Participate in design reviews, experimental planning, and team‑wide research direction.

• MS or PhD in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Robotics, or a related field.
• Strong experience training and deploying RL policies for complex behaviors in robots or simulated agents.
• Proficiency with modern ML frameworks (e.g., PyTorch, Tensor Flow, RLlib).
• Strong foundations in algorithms, debugging, performance optimization, and robotics fundamentals (kinematics, dynamics).
• Excellent Python and C++ programming skills and experience contributing to production‑scale software.

• PhD or equivalent research experience in reinforcement learning or robotic manipulation.
• Experience deploying RL policies on physical robots.
• Experience developing locomotion, bimanual manipulation, or whole-body control behaviors.
• Contributions to large software projects or open‑source ML/robotics frameworks.
• Publications in top‑tier robotics or ML conferences (e.g., CoRL, RSS, ICRA, NeurIPS).

• Direct access to cutting‑edge humanoid robots and the infrastructure to run large‑scale RL experiments.
• A highly collaborative, mission‑driven team where your work has immediate impact.
• The opportunity to define state‑of‑the‑art humanoid capabilities and shape the future of real‑world robotics.

The base pay range for this position is between $175,000 and $230,000 annually. Base pay will depend on multiple individualized factors including, but not limited to, internal equity, job‑related knowledge, skills, and experience. Additional benefits include medical, dental, vision, 401(k), paid time off, and an annual bonus structure.