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# Principal Roboticist, Robot Foundation Model

- **Company:** WAYVE LLC
- **Location:** Sunnyvale, CA, United States
- **Experience:** Expert
- **Contract:** Permanent contract
- **Skills:** Artificial Intelligence, C++ (Programming Language), Computer Programming, Software Debugging, Python (Programming Language), Machine Learning, Large Language Models, Model Validation, Data Strategy, Machine Learning Operations
- **Published:** August 9, 2026
- **Apply:** https://www.indeed.com/viewjob?jk=c4faa6d1db076f77

## About the Role

* Experience in robot manipulation; working with robot hardware.
 * Experience leading robotics efforts.
 * Strong programming experience in C++ and/or Python.
 * Experience with robot software systems such as control, planning, ROS, or ROS2.
 * Experience in Machine Learning is welcome, in particular training and deploying learned robot policies.
 * A track record of high-quality research or engineering work in robotics, embodied AI, or related areas.
 * Publications in top-tier conferences such as ICRA, CoRL, or IROS are highly valued.
 * PhD preferred; Master's degree with equivalent experience also welcome.
 * 5+ years of relevant industry experience., * You enjoy working hands-on with real robots and are comfortable debugging across hardware, software, and ML systems.
 * You can move between research exploration and pragmatic engineering execution.
 * You have strong judgement around experiment design, data quality, and model evaluation.
 * You communicate clearly across research, engineering, and product teams.
 * You are excited by 01 ownership and ambiguity in a fast-moving research environment.

## Description

* Develop and maintain robot software in C++ and Python, including control, planning, ROS/ROS2-based systems, and deployment infrastructure.
 * Create infrastructure for policy deployment, data collection, evaluation, and the robotics data flywheel.
 * Run real-world robot experiments and define data collection pilots that inform model development.
 * Collaborate with research teams on robot policy development, model evaluation, and data strategy.
 * Debug and troubleshoot robotic software, hardware, and policy failures.
 * Build robust deployment, regression, and validation tests for robot systems.
 * Help shape technical direction across robotics, ML, hardware, and experimentation., This role is based in our Sunnyvale office and involves working closely with robotic lab infrastructure.

Wayve is committed to creating an inclusive interview experience. If you require any accommodations or adjustments to participate fully in our interview process, please let us know.

We understand that everyone has a unique set of skills and experiences and that not everyone will meet all of the requirements listed above. If you're passionate about self-driving cars and think you have what it takes to make a positive impact on the world, we encourage you to apply.


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