Senior Robotics Engineer, Robot Learning

Senra Systems•Cypress, CA

2d•$200,000 - $260,000•Onsite

About The Position

Senra Systems is hiring a Senior Robotics Engineer to own the technical implementation of robot learning in its Automation Program. Senra manufactures electrical wire harnesses on production lines for aerospace and defense customers and is developing automation for high-mix assembly. This hands-on senior role focuses on applying learning-based methods to tasks that vary from job to job, beginning with machine tending and progressing toward dexterous wire manipulation. The work spans research, development, and deployment on real production hardware, using production data to improve performance and address failure modes. The engineer will report to Senra’s cofounder and Head of AI & Robotics, who owns the program’s technical vision, and will work with other senior engineers. They will collaborate closely with the Senior Robotics Engineer, Production to develop and deploy capabilities on the factory floor. The role includes ownership of learned manipulation, data pipelines, research planning, model strategy, and partner pilots, as well as helping hire and mentor engineers as the team grows. Success means building systems that work reliably in production rather than only demonstrating capabilities in a lab. This is an onsite role based at the Cypress, California facility, with regular time at the Redondo Beach, California facility. The stated salary range is $200,000–$260,000, with compensation based on experience, qualifications, and other job-related factors. Applicants must meet the stated U.S. Person/ITAR requirements or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations.

Requirements

Hands-on experience training and deploying learning-based manipulation on real robots, such as imitation learning, diffusion or transformer policies, reinforcement learning, or robot foundation models; simulation-only experience is insufficient.
Experience building data infrastructure for robotics, including teleoperation or demonstration collection, data pipelines, and hardware evaluation.
Track record at a robotics research lab, frontier robotics company, or team shipping learned robotic systems, including work the candidate led.
Experience with contact-rich or deformable-object manipulation, such as cables, insertion, or cloth.
Track record of moving quickly on real hardware and running experiments that answer questions in days rather than months.
Strong Python skills and experience with a deep learning framework such as PyTorch or JAX.
Comfort with C++ and ROS 2 or similar software on real robots.
Ability to take ownership of a technical area end to end, partner effectively with senior engineers, and communicate clearly with technicians, engineers, and leadership.
Master’s or PhD in robotics, computer science, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, or computer engineering, or equivalent research or industry experience.
Must be a U.S. Person as defined under ITAR, or eligible to obtain the required U.S. Department of State authorizations.

Nice To Haves

Experience shipping learned skills into a production or commercial setting alongside the engineers who operate them.
Experience with dexterous hands, tactile sensing, or force-controlled manipulation.
Experience with sim-to-real transfer and simulation tools such as MuJoCo or Isaac Sim.
Publications or open-source work in robot learning.
Experience in wire harness, cable assembly, or other high-mix assembly.
Startup or high-growth company experience.
Experience mentoring engineers or helping build a research team.

Responsibilities

Develop learned manipulation capabilities for production-line work, starting with machine tending such as picking, loading, and feeding job-variable wire and parts.
Transfer learned skills, perception and grasping models, and failure analysis to the Senior Robotics Engineer, Production for integration into production cells.
Build data pipelines for learned skills, including teleoperation demonstrations, station-camera and cell production data, labeling, training, and evaluation.
Research dexterous and wire manipulation for tasks that have resisted automation, including small parts, deformable wire, and contact-rich assembly.
Evaluate and post-train open-weight and partner robot foundation models on Senra data, and recommend what to build versus buy.
Run partner pilots involving robotic hands and models under terms that preserve Senra’s data and results.
Set a quarterly research plan with the Head of AI & Robotics, including clear deliverables and go/no-go criteria for each task.
Help hire and mentor engineers as the team grows.
Work closely with the Senior Robotics Engineer, Production to develop and deploy robotic capabilities on the factory floor.
Use real production data to improve system performance and address failure modes.

Benefits

Equity participation.
Comprehensive medical, dental, vision, life, and long-term disability coverage.
Flexible Spending Account (FSA) and Dependent Spending Account (DSA) for health-related expenses.
20 vacation days per year and 12 company holidays.
401(k) plan.
$50 per month DoorDash credit.
Up to $100 per month reimbursement for gym memberships.
Fully stocked kitchen with snacks and beverages.
Regular team-building events and meals.
Bright, open office with communal spaces and free parking.
Convenient location near metro, major freeways, and local dining.