Robotics Machine Learning Engineer

The Robotics Machine Learning Engineer at Persona AI Inc will report to the Head of Machine Learning and help define and execute the machine learning strategy for humanoid robots operating in heavy industry. This onsite role focuses on building and maintaining ML software that supports manipulation, navigation, locomotion, and perception.

Role Overview

In this Full-Time position within the Machine Learning department, you will develop, test, deploy, and monitor machine learning models and pipelines. The work spans real-world performance evaluation and ongoing improvements to both model quality and operational reliability.

Key Responsibilities

• Collaborate on the design and development of the Persona ML software stack and support its use across manipulation, navigation, locomotion, and perception.
• Partner with the ML team to create and execute a comprehensive plan for building machine learning models, while staying current with state-of-the-art research and development.
• Develop, test, and deploy software, machine learning pipelines, and data collection pipelines.
• Monitor and evaluate model performance in real-world operating conditions.
• Collaborate with universities and other companies.
• Collaborate on initiatives to attract, nurture, and grow the machine learning and autonomy teams.

Required Qualifications

• Demonstrated courage and grit for challenging problems in embodied AI.
• Enthusiasm for working collaboratively in a high-paced environment.
• 3+ years of experience applying machine learning to robotics.
• Experience with deep learning frameworks such as PyTorch, JAX, TensorFlow, or similar.
• Experience with cloud computing platforms for model development and data storage, including AWS, Azure, or GCP.
• Strong understanding of current research in robot learning, including examples such as behavior cloning for manipulation, reinforcement learning for locomotion, and world models.
• Understanding of real-world deployment challenges for neural network models.
• Experience deploying both traditional and learning-based approaches for robotics.
• Ability to write high-quality software.
• Ability to thrive in fast-paced, ambiguous environments.
• Strong first-principles thinking.

Preferred / Bonus Skills

• Advanced degree (Master’s or PhD) in computer science, robotics, machine learning, or a related discipline.
• Published papers at top ML and robotics conferences, including ICML, ICRA, CoRL, RSS, or NeurIPS.
• Experience deploying robots, collecting large datasets, and training large neural networks that operate in production environments.

Technology Stack

• PyTorch
• JAX
• TensorFlow
• AWS
• Azure
• GCP

Location, Travel, and Reporting

• Location: Pensacola, FL or Houston, TX (onsite); role listing specifies Houston, TX (onsite).
• Travel: 10%
• Reports to: Head of Machine Learning
• Department: Machine Learning

Compensation and Benefits

• Competitive compensation
• Performance-based bonus
• 99% employer-covered medical benefits
• Early-stage equity
• Competitive PTO
• Company-wide paid winter break from December 24th to January 2nd