Research Engineer, Robotics Data

hud (YC W25)

. Research data needs of robot learning and physical AI systems and turn them into dataset and evaluation specifications .

Posted 9/29/2026full-timeSan Francisco • California • United StatesMid-LevelSeniorWebsite

Core Competencies

Role fit

Core Competencies

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Demonstrates expertise in defining data schemas, annotations, and quality standards for robotics data, while effectively collaborating with research and engineering teams to enhance data offerings for embodied AI systems.

Highest-signal resume keywords

Robotics Data SpecificationPython ProficiencyData Processing Tools DevelopmentQuality Assurance in DatasetsMultimodal Research Experience

ATS Keywords

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Applicant Tracking System Keywords

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Hard Skills

Data Schema DefinitionDataset EvaluationData Quality StandardsExperiment DesignData AnalysisRobotics Data UtilizationImitation LearningReinforcement LearningVision-Language-Action ModelsData Processing

Soft Skills

Attention to DetailStrong CommunicationCollaboration

Tools & Technologies

Data Validation WorkflowsResearch ToolsData Collection Protocols

Industry Keywords

Robot LearningEmbodied AIMultimodal RoboticsUnstructured Problem SolvingEarly-Stage Startup Experience

Tech Stack

Tools & technologies

Python

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Research data needs of robot learning and physical AI systems and turn them into dataset and evaluation specifications
Define data schemas, annotations, ground truth, and quality standards across robotics data types
Design collection and review protocols for external data providers
Build tools and validation workflows to audit datasets, identify quality issues, and provide actionable feedback
Run experiments and analyze model behavior to understand how data quality, coverage, and structure affect performance
Collaborate with HUD’s research and engineering teams, data vendors, and buyers to improve robotics data offerings
Develop datasets and evaluations for training and evaluating embodied AI systems

Requirements

What you’ll need

Experience in robotics, robot learning, embodied AI, or closely related multimodal research
Proficiency in Python and experience building data processing, analysis, or evaluation tools
Experience turning research questions into dataset specifications, experiments, and measurable quality criteria
Strong understanding of what makes robotics data useful for training or evaluation—and where it can be misleading
Attention to detail and ability to spot subtle errors, coverage gaps, and failure modes in complex data
Experience building research tools or pipelines without a fully prescribed roadmap
Experience with robot trajectories, demonstrations, video, sensor data, simulation, or other multimodal robotics datasets may be advantageous
Experience with imitation learning, reinforcement learning, or vision-language-action models may be advantageous
Experience working in unstructured problem spaces and taking ownership from early research through production deployment may be advantageous
Early-stage startup experience and strong communication skills for collaboration across teams and time zones may be advantageous
Technical aptitude and learning potential prioritized over years of experience

Benefits

Comp & perks

100% covered top-of-the-line medical, dental, and vision from Blue Shield of CA (US employees)
Lunch and dinner when you’re in the office (in-office employees)
Company-wide holiday break (Christmas Eve to New Year’s Day) on top of PTO and paid holidays
Equinox membership (US employees)
401k (US employees)
Commuter benefits (US employees)
Unlimited access to tokens for ChatGPT, Claude Code, Cursor, etc.
Support for relocation and visas for strong full-time candidates to the US or Singapore