--- title: 'Senior Robot Learning Engineer at Lightspeed' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/senior-robot-learning-engineer-lightspeed-northbrook-n1ye2z9wvhmz' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-10-29' --- # Senior Robot Learning Engineer at Lightspeed - **Company:** Lightspeed - **Location:** Northbrook, IL - **Employment:** full-time - **Work type:** onsite - **Posted:** 2026-10-29 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-10-29 - **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/lightspeed/123856f3-140f-4eba-aff7-939b33fcc13b ## Job description ## About LightSpeed LightSpeed Build Technologies is revolutionizing the construction industry through AI-powered robotics. Our flagship systems—BRUTE for automated wall panel manufacturing and DEX for on-site collaborative construction—are addressing the global housing crisis by delivering unprecedented speed, precision, and affordability in homebuilding. Position Overview As Senior Robot Learning Engineer, you will own how LightSpeed's robots learn and perform physical skills. You will build the data pipeline that captures how people do the work, the policies that learn from it, and the executor that runs every action on the robot, classical or learned, behind one interface. Our robots do contact-rich, high-variance work: taping seams, routing cable, finishing drywall, setting fixtures. Your systems decide whether a new trade takes days or weeks to teach, and whether it runs reliably once it does. ## What you'll work on Data and teleoperation - Define how we capture demonstrations: teleoperation rigs (leader arms, VR) and egocentric capture of people doing the work - Own the data pipeline: synchronized observations and actions, episode labelling, dataset versioning and quality checks - Decide what data each new task needs, and how failures are labelled and fed back - Partner with the world sensing principal on observation spaces and sensor streams Policies and training - Set the policy architecture: a shared vision and force backbone with task-conditioned heads, so a new skill needs a few demonstrations, not a new model - Train with imitation learning, diffusion or transformer policies and vision-language-action models; use reinforcement learning where the reward can be clearly defined - Build the training and evaluation loop, in simulation and on real robots, with held-out evaluations that gate deployment - Solve manipulation of deformable materials: cable, tape, membrane - Set coverage and first-pass yield targets per skill, and measure against them Execution and control - Own the actuate executor: classical control and learned policies behind one contract, so the planner can choose either for each step - Build the compliance layer for contact-rich work: nailing, pressing, taping, mudding, insertion, with force and impedance control - Build recovery behaviours for the common failures of each primitive - Deploy policies on the robot within real-time and safety limits - Define what each tool must sense and report, so its actions can be learned from and controlled Foundation and skill pipeline - Co-own the foundation interfaces with the world sensing and agentic planning principals, and own the data and evaluation interface - For each new trade: collect demonstrations, train and evaluate the policy, add recovery - Drive down the time it takes to teach a new trade Technical leadership - Set robot learning and control architecture across both robot families - Lead and mentor learning and manipulation engineers - Make the system something engineers can teach new trades with, without you in the loop - Stay hands-on: write production code and test on real robots every week Required qualifications Robot learning and control - 5+ years in robotics or machine learning, including learned manipulation policies deployed on real hardware - Deep experience with imitation learning and reinforcement learning, and with when to use each - Force and impedance control for contact-rich manipulation - Built a data pipeline for robot learning: teleoperation capture, labelling, versioning and evaluation - Deep learning in PyTorch, from dataset to deployed policy Engineering and leadership - Strong Python and C++ - Experience with ROS2, Linux, Docker and CI/CD workflows - A record of setting technical direction across teams and mentoring engineers ## Preferred qualifications - MS or PhD in Robotics, Machine Learning, Computer Science or a related field - Vision-language-action models or other robot foundation models - Diffusion policies, ACT or similar visuomotor policy architectures - Manipulation of deformable objects: cable, textile, tape - Bimanual or dexterous manipulation - Sim-to-real transfer with Isaac Sim, MuJoCo or similar - Teleoperation systems: leader-follower arms, VR, egocentric capture - Robot learning datasets in MCAP or rosbag - Contact-rich assembly, finishing or construction tasks - Background in construction, manufacturing or industrial automation ## Why Join LightSpeed - Teach robots the trades that build homes and address the housing crisis - Own robot learning end to end, from demonstration capture to deployed policy - Shape the foundation every trade is built on - Work on rare real-world problems: deformable materials, contact-rich finishing, learning from human demonstration on factory and field robots - Hands-on culture with direct access to robots, sensors and manufacturing environments - Competitive compensation and comprehensive benefits Employment Relationship This position is at-will, meaning either you or the Company may terminate employment at any time, with or without cause or notice. ## Equal Opportunity LightSpeed Build Technologies is an equal opportunity employer committed to building a diverse and inclusive workplace. We welcome candidates from all backgrounds and experiences. ## About Lightspeed ## Company Overview - **One-liner**: Lightspeed uses robotics and AI to manufacture precision-engineered panels and components for residential construction, aiming to build homes faster, smarter, and more affordably. - **Entity Type**: Private (Startup) - **Headquarters**: Northbrook, Illinois, United States - **Founded**: Not publicly available (likely 2023-2024 based on current operations) - **Founders**: Biju Kulathakal (serial entrepreneur behind Redbox and Halo Investing) ## Core Business - **Primary industry**: Construction Technology (Contech), Robotics, AI-Powered Manufacturing - **Target customers**: Homebuilders, real estate developers, construction firms (B2B) - **Mission or purpose statement**: "Housing for All" — building homes smarter, faster, and more affordable with robotics and AI. ## Products & Services - **BRUTE Robotic System**: A robotic system designed for heavy-duty construction tasks, targeting a 50% reduction in build time versus traditional methods. - **DEX Robotic System**: A precision robotic system for detailed assembly and finishing work. - **AI-Powered Design & Engineering**: Proprietary AI algorithms that analyze architectural drawings to automatically generate optimized construction sequences, material lists, and robotic instructions. - **Precision-Engineered Panels**: Prefabricated wall and floor panels manufactured to tight tolerances, enabling faster on-site assembly and reduced errors. ## Market Standing - **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not disclosed - **Key Metric**: Not publicly available (likely pre-revenue or early-stage; funding status unknown) - **Notable Investors/Partners**: Founder Biju Kulathakal previously founded Redbox and Halo Investing, suggesting strong investor connections, but no specific investors are named for Lightspeed. - **Growth Signals**: The company is actively hiring (careers page on Ashby), signaling growth. They claim to target 70% reduction in construction errors, 20-30% labor cost savings, and 25% reduction in material waste. ## Competitive Advantages - **Robotic Precision**: Claims tolerances "impossible with manual framing" — a significant differentiator in an industry where quality varies widely. - **Founder Credibility**: Biju Kulathakal has a proven track record building Redbox (a massive kiosk network) and Halo Investing (a fintech platform), suggesting ability to scale. - **Integrated AI-to-Robotics Pipeline**: Full vertical integration from architectural drawing analysis to robotic manufacturing, reducing human error and rework. - **Sustainability Angle**: Precision manufacturing reduces construction waste by ~25%, aligning with ESG trends in real estate. ## Strategic Focus - **Offsite Construction**: The company is riding the McKinsey-predicted trend that 20% of homes will be built offsite in the US by 2030. - **Speed & Labor Reduction**: Core value prop is cutting build time in half and reducing labor dependency — critical as construction labor shortages worsen. - **Scaling Manufacturing**: Likely focused on expanding production capacity at their Northbrook facility and proving the technology with initial clients. ## Why Work Here - **Mission-Driven**: "Housing for All" offers a tangible social impact — helping solve the housing affordability crisis through technology. - **Founder Led**: Working directly with a serial entrepreneur who has scaled companies to national prominence. - **Cutting-Edge Tech**: Hands-on work with robotics, computer vision, AI, and advanced manufacturing — appealing for engineers and operators. - **Early-Stage Impact**: As a likely early-stage company, employees can wear multiple hats and shape the product and culture from the ground up. - **Location**: Northbrook, IL (northern suburb of Chicago) offers a suburban office environment with access to Chicago's talent pool. - **Work Policy**: Not explicitly stated, but the nature of robotics manufacturing suggests a strong on-site presence for hardware roles. **Note**: There is a separate, publicly traded company called Lightspeed Commerce (NYSE: LSPD, TSX: LSPD) that provides POS and e-commerce software. This profile is for Lightspeed (lightspeed.build), the robotics construction startup. Do not confuse the two. ## Sources 1. [lightspeed.build](https://lightspeed.build/) 2. [lightspeed.build/about-us](https://lightspeed.build/about-us) 3. [lightspeed.build/contact-us](https://lightspeed.build/contact-us) 4. [jobs.ashbyhq.com/lightspeed](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/lightspeed) ## Other roles at Lightspeed - [Senior Agentic Planning Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-agentic-planning-engineer-lightspeed-northbrook-m2d7m8msax70) — Northbrook, IL - [Senior World Sensing Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-world-sensing-engineer-lightspeed-northbrook-pw92dqkdya8d) — Northbrook, IL - [Residential Design & Preconstruction Specialist](https://feeny.ai/job/residential-design-preconstruction-specialist-lightspeed-northbrook-a8sy1bxmccqz) — Northbrook, IL - [Mechanical Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/mechanical-engineer-lightspeed-northbrook-yqf4rprszy0s) — Northbrook, IL - [Perception Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/perception-engineer-lightspeed-northbrook-eq8c65rv5zn9) — Northbrook, IL - [Robot Learning Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/robot-learning-engineer-lightspeed-northbrook-ham4vyk6erde) — Northbrook, IL - [Robotics Technician](https://feeny.ai/job/robotics-technician-lightspeed-northbrook-5wf4e39h7kre) — Northbrook, IL