Skip to content
Deft AI

Research Scientist

San FranciscoOnsite · United States
FullTime · Science & Engineering
POSTED 15 APRVERIFIED 8H AGO
Apply Ask
Role
208 days opentrue age
Posted 15 Apr
Payats field
$150k–250kposted
▼ −20% vs market median $250k
$150k$300k
Market p25–p75
$200k–$300k
SF Bay Area · n=461 · 365d to 6 Nov
CompanyDeft AI →
10open roles
Opened · 30d
+0
Closed · 30d
−0
4d of snapshots · 30d window
Market
3,250open · ML / AI
Opened · 7d
+2267% of open
All ml / ai
6,607open
All tracked boards · live 10 Nov · n=3,250
Visa
1H-1B LCAs · FY26
LCAs FY26 · n=1 · to 2026-05-15
PyTorchTensorFlow

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, TensorFlow, 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.

Source · Deft AIFirst seen 2 NovOriginal ↗