Research Engineer, VLA Models

AI Research Engineer, Vision-Language Action (VLA) Models
Location: Palo Alto, CA (on-site)

About 1X

We build humanoid robots that work alongside people to solve labor shortages and create abundance.

The Role
As a Research Engineer on the Vision-Language Action (VLA) team, you will be responsible for enabling long-horizon autonomous task performance in unstructured environments. You will own the full development lifecycle of autonomous capabilities, from reviewing data and designing models to deployment and fleet-level monitoring. Your work will integrate vision, control, and learning to power NEO's whole-body manipulation and navigation in novel scenarios.

You Will

• Take end-to-end ownership of autonomous capability development: data review, model design, deployment, and fleet performance monitoring

• Train NEO to perform whole-body manipulation and navigation tasks in unfamiliar environments

• Design robust evaluation metrics to support scalable model pre-training

• Experiment with cutting-edge vision-language and generative model techniques to predict robot actions

• Collaborate with controls, QA, and data teams to deploy reinforcement learning policies to the production fleet

Must Have

• Strong programming skills in Python and familiarity with build systems like Bazel

• Experience using deep learning frameworks such as PyTorch

• Proficiency in simulation environments like Isaac Sim or MuJoCo

• Deep understanding of generalization in autonomous systems

• Experience designing and validating evaluation metrics in real or simulated environments

• Ability to work cross-functionally with controls, QA, and data teams to operationalize models

Benefits & Compensation

• Salary Range: $180,000 – $300,000 + Equity

• Health, dental, and vision insurance

• 401(k) with company match

• Paid time off and holidays

Equal Opportunity Employer
1X is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, age, marital status, medical condition, genetic information, disability, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected under applicable federal, state, or local law.