---
title: 'Senior / Staff AI Research Scientist, Foundation Models at RoboForce'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/senior-staff-ai-research-scientist-foundation-models-roboforce-milpitas-g3pm2cnazh8e'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-12'
---

# Senior / Staff AI Research Scientist, Foundation Models at RoboForce

- **Company:** RoboForce
- **Location:** Milpitas, CA
- **Posted:** 2025-11-10
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-12
- **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/roboforce/jobs/4981345008

## 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 Scientist, Foundation Models to advance robotic embodied intelligence. In this role, you will develop algorithms that enable robots to understand their environment, interpret and execute tasks, and communicate seamlessly with humans — with a particular focus on building and training world models that allow robots to predict, plan, and generalize across complex physical tasks.

## Responsibilities

- Design and deploy vision-language(-action) models (VLM/VLA) for contextual understanding and generalized robot action policies.

- Develop and train world models for action-conditioned prediction, long-horizon planning, and environment simulation — enabling robots to reason about the consequences of their actions before execution.

- Research approaches to improve world model fidelity using multi-modal inputs including vision, language, proprioception, and spatial representations.

- Develop foundation models with spatial reasoning capabilities to achieve high-precision robotic actions.

- Integrate multi-modal data sources (vision, language, speech, etc.) to enable natural human-robot communication.

- Optimize and deploy models as production-grade solutions on RoboForce robotic platforms.

## Requirements

- PhD degree in Machine Learning, Robotics, or related field, or Master's degree with 4+ years of relevant experience.

- Proficiency in Python and deep learning frameworks (e.g., PyTorch, JAX).

- Expertise in large foundation models (VLM, VLA, etc.).

- Strong understanding of world model architectures and action-conditioned generative modeling for robot learning.

- Decent understanding of multimodal models, modern ML architectures (transformers, diffusion models, etc.).

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

Bonus Qualifications

- Experience with video generation or prediction models (e.g., diffusion-based video models, autoregressive video transformers) and their application to world modeling or synthetic data generation for robot learning.

- Strong publication record at top conferences (NeurIPS, ICML, CVPR, ICCV, CoRL, ICRA, or equivalent).

- Expertise in neural network deployment (e.g., TensorRT) and GPU programming with CUDA.

- Proven ability to design scalable experimentation and data pipelines.

## 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 $200,000–$360,000 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

- [Creative Director, Video](https://feeny.ai/job/creative-director-video-roboforce-milpitas-h098q8a77xbp) — Milpitas, CA
- [Head of People](https://feeny.ai/job/head-of-people-roboforce-milpitas-qyrrvb6q5zg6) — Milpitas, CA
- [AI Data Operations Lead](https://feeny.ai/job/ai-data-operations-lead-roboforce-milpitas-nvye04zqdv5e) — Milpitas, CA
- [Talent Acquisition Partner](https://feeny.ai/job/talent-acquisition-partner-roboforce-milpitas-ac13xex1bpet) — Milpitas, CA
- [Senior Robotics Systems Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-robotics-systems-engineer-roboforce-milpitas-rg91adejr733) — Milpitas, CA
- [Lead AI Research Engineer, Embodied Systems](https://feeny.ai/job/lead-ai-research-engineer-embodied-systems-roboforce-milpitas-9eftesae7n33) — Milpitas, CA
- [Lead AI Native Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/lead-ai-native-engineer-roboforce-milpitas-dyfd5k3t8xv2) — Milpitas, CA
- [Model Evaluation Operator- AI Robotics (Swing Shift)](https://feeny.ai/job/model-evaluation-operator-ai-robotics-swing-shift-roboforce-milpitas-v5dmfwae6ft8) — Milpitas, CA
- [Lead Software Engineer, AI & Robotics Test Infrastructure](https://feeny.ai/job/lead-software-engineer-ai-robotics-test-infrastructure-roboforce-milpitas-ywptctwnxkvx) — Milpitas, CA
- [Finance and Accounting Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/finance-and-accounting-manager-roboforce-milpitas-chq7ndbk87v1) — Milpitas, CA