---
title: 'Senior / Staff AI Research Engineer, Real-Time Inference at RoboForce'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/senior-staff-ai-research-engineer-real-time-inference-roboforce-milpitas-vp76k20nssgc'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-11-07'
---

# Senior / Staff AI Research Engineer, Real-Time Inference at RoboForce

- **Company:** RoboForce
- **Location:** Milpitas, CA
- **Posted:** 2026-11-05
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-11-07
- **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/roboforce/jobs/5474720008

## Job description

## Why RoboForce

RoboForce is an AI robotics company developing Physical AI–powered Robo-Labor for dull, dirty, and dangerous work. The company's robots are engineered for demanding industrial environments, with a focus on real-world deployment and scalability.

We are looking for a Senior / Staff AI Research Engineer, Real-Time Inference to make embodied AI practical on the edge. In this role, you will drive the full stack of model optimization — from CUDA kernel engineering to quantization and compression — to deploy high-performance AI models on edge compute platforms powering RoboForce robots in the field.

## Responsibilities

- Develop and optimize inference pipelines for embodied AI models (VLA, perception, world models) targeting real-time execution on edge hardware such as NVIDIA Jetson platforms.

- Implement CUDA-level optimizations including custom kernels, memory layout tuning, and hardware-aware graph compilation to minimize model latency.

- Apply and advance model compression techniques — quantization (INT8/FP16/INT4), pruning, distillation, and structured sparsity — to achieve production-grade throughput on constrained devices.

- Profile and debug end-to-end inference stacks using tools such as NSight, TensorRT, and Triton to identify and eliminate performance bottlenecks.

- Collaborate with ML research and robotics teams to co-design model architectures that meet real-time control-loop latency requirements.

- Establish benchmarking frameworks to evaluate model performance across latency, throughput, power consumption, and accuracy tradeoffs on target hardware.

## Requirements

- Master's degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or related field with 4+ years of experience, or a PhD degree.

- Deep expertise in CUDA programming, GPU architecture, and low-level kernel optimization, including custom kernel authoring with tools such as Triton.

- Hands-on experience with model quantization, pruning, distillation, and deployment using frameworks such as TensorRT, ONNX Runtime, TVM, or Triton.

- Proficiency in C++ and Python; strong systems programming and performance profiling skills.

- Experience deploying ML models on edge or embedded hardware (e.g., NVIDIA Jetson, Orin, or equivalent ARM/GPU SoCs).

- Requires 5 days/week in-office collaboration with the teams.

Bonus Qualifications

- Familiarity with embodied AI models — VLA, multimodal transformers, or diffusion-based policies — and their inference characteristics.

- Familiarity with compiler-based optimization pipelines such as XLA, torch.compile, or MLIR for graph-level model acceleration.

- Understanding of robotics system constraints such as control-loop timing, sensor fusion latency, and memory bandwidth limits on edge SoCs.

- Publication or production work in efficient deep learning or on-device ML systems.

## Benefits

- Competitive stock options/equity programs.

- Health, dental, and vision insurance, 401(k) plan.

- Visa sponsorship and green card support for qualified candidates.

- Lunches and dinners, a fully stocked kitchen, and regular team-building events.

Compensation: Salary $185,000–$325,000 USD + Bonus + Equity

The base salary range above represents the expected compensation for this full-time U.S. position. Final compensation will be determined based on role scope, level, location, job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training, and may fall outside the listed range in exceptional cases.

## About RoboForce

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: RoboForce builds scalable, deployable Physical AI-powered Robo-Labor for demanding industrial environments such as mining, manufacturing, solar, data centers, and shipping.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Seed stage; total disclosed funding conflicting: $15M per LinkedIn vs. $52M per company website timeline)
- **Headquarters**: Milpitas, California, United States
- **Founded**: 2023
- **Founders**: Leo Ma (Founder & CEO)

## Core Business
- Primary industry: Robotics Engineering (industrial automation, AI robotics)
- Target customers: B2B, industrial enterprises in mining, manufacturing, solar energy, data centers, and shipping/logistics
- Mission/purpose: “Robotics for Humanity” – solving human needs by extending human potential through Physical AI, automating “Dull, Dirty, Dangerous” work.

## Products & Services
- **TITAN**: General-purpose AI robot for demanding industrial environments; multiple variants (TITAN-T launched, TITAN-W launched, TITAN prototype completed).
- **Robo-Labor Workforce**: Deployable AI-powered robotic workforce for repetitive, precise, and heavy-duty workflows.
- **RF-Net v1**: Robotic foundation network (AI/software layer for fleet learning).
- **Market Solutions**: Tailored offerings for Solar (outdoor construction/inspection), Mining (hazardous environments), Manufacturing, Data Center (AI infrastructure operations), and Shipping (container movement/port logistics).

## Market Standing
- **Valuation**: Not publicly disclosed.
- **Key Metric**: Total funding – conflicting reports:
  - $15.0M total (two Seed rounds in 2025, per LinkedIn)
  - $52M new funding (per company website timeline for 2026)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: YZi Labs (lead), Myron Scholes, Gary Rieschel, Jerry Yang, Carnegie Mellon University.
- **Growth Signals**:
  - Headcount: 32 employees (+168.8% YoY, per LinkedIn)
  - 10,000-unit robot LOI secured (2024)
  - First commercial pilot signed (2024)
  - New HQ office and WEF Technology Pioneer award (2026)
  - TITAN design v1 completion, prototype, and TITAN-W launch (2026)
  - Featured in Jensen Huang’s GTC keynote (AI-Centric Design highlight)

## Competitive Advantages
- **AI-Centric Design**: Robots built to improve with every deployment; 3-5× improvement over existing solutions.
- **Form-Factor Agnostic**: Focus on solving human needs rather than emulating human form – diverse hardware shapes optimized for specific tasks.
- **Institutional Backing**: Founders and team from CMU, UMich, Amazon Robotics, Google, Waymo, Cruise, Tesla Robotics, ABB, Apple.
- **Early Traction**: Pre-orders (LOI for 10,000 units) and commercial pilots already in place.

## Strategic Focus
- Scale deployment of Robo-Labor across multiple industrial verticals (solar, mining, manufacturing, data centers, shipping).
- Advance AI-native robotics through continuous fleet learning (RF-Net v1) and Nvidia ecosystem integration.
- Expand physical infrastructure (new HQ) and grow engineering/AI research teams.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: “Imagination leads the way” and “Great robots built by great people” – emphasis on creativity, joy, and making life better through real tools.
- **Work Model**: On-site in Milpitas, CA (all current open roles are in-office).
- **Engineering Focus**: Heavy investment in AI, robotics software/hardware, and foundation models; roles span AI Research, Robotics Software, Hardware, and Data Operations.
- **Trajectory**: Fast-growing startup (168% headcount growth YoY) with early revenue signals and top-tier backers; opportunity to work on cutting-edge Physical AI from the ground floor.

## Sources
1. [roboforce.ai](https://www.roboforce.ai/)
2. [roboforce.ai/about-us](https://www.roboforce.ai/about-us)
3. [roboforce.ai/careers](https://www.roboforce.ai/careers)
4. [linkedin.com/company/roboforce-ai](https://www.linkedin.com/company/roboforce-ai)
5. [greenhouse.io/roboforce](https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/roboforce/jobs/4817535008)

## Other roles at RoboForce

- [Staff Research Engineer, Robot Learning Systems](https://feeny.ai/job/staff-research-engineer-robot-learning-systems-roboforce-milpitas-zdfaqy16f9wx) — Milpitas, CA
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- [AI Resident](https://feeny.ai/job/ai-resident-roboforce-milpitas-3jvcfpdctykx) — Milpitas, CA
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- [Robotics Software Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/robotics-software-engineer-roboforce-milpitas-2pb505w5skyx) — Milpitas, CA
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