Senior Roboticist- Stretch Manipulation

Boston Dynamics•Waltham, MA

About The Position

The Senior Roboticist will develop Stretch’s manipulation stack for warehouse applications. The role involves hands-on development using algorithmic and data-driven techniques within a vertically integrated system, with close integration between software and hardware and access to fleet metrics and large-scale data. Innovations are deployed to Stretch robots operating for customers around the world. The successful candidate will advance manipulation capabilities such as grasping, motion generation, and next-box selection. They will critically evaluate developments in robotics and physical AI for real-world performance, iterate from concepts to on-robot testing, and deliver polished, scalable, production-ready features. The role also involves working with customer-facing teams, including Product and Customer Success, to address real warehouse challenges. Candidates must be eligible to work in the United States; visa sponsorship is not available. The stated annual base pay range is $135,000 to $160,000, with the actual base pay depending on individualized factors such as internal equity, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience.

Requirements

Deep expertise in classical manipulation (planning, control, or grasping) or robot learning (imitation learning, reinforcement learning, or vision-language-action models), with working fluency in the other area.
A bachelor’s or master’s degree plus at least 2 years of experience, or a Ph.D., in Computer Science, Robotics, or a related field.
Experience developing and evaluating classical and learned robot capabilities in simulation and through on-robot experiments.
Strong physical intuition and comfort and confidence working with real robots.
Excellent C++ and Python programming skills in a Linux environment, along with strong debugging skills.
Familiarity with modern agentic programming workflows, such as Claude Code.
Experience deploying robotic manipulation capabilities to production, especially in logistics or warehouse settings.
Eligibility to work in the United States; visa sponsorship is not available.

Nice To Haves

Publications in top-tier robotics or AI conferences and journals, such as RSS, ICRA, IROS, RA-L, T-RO, NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, or CoRL.
A strong record in robotics competitions.

Responsibilities

Develop Stretch’s manipulation stack using algorithmic and data-driven techniques.
Advance manipulation capabilities, including grasping, motion generation, and next-box selection.
Evaluate robotics and physical AI advancements for real-world performance benefits before deploying them as features to the robot fleet.
Develop and evaluate robotic capabilities through simulation and on-robot experiments.
Rapidly iterate from concepts to robot tests and production-ready features, ensuring capabilities are polished before reaching customers.
Work with customer-facing teams, including Product and Customer Success, to solve warehouse challenges.