Software Engineer, Validation & Verification, Intern (Summer 2026)

Field AI•Irvine, CA

3d•$40 - $50

About The Position

Field AI is transforming how robots interact with the real world. We are building risk-aware, reliable, and field-ready AI systems that address the most complex challenges in robotics, unlocking the full potential of embodied intelligence. We go beyond typical data-driven approaches or pure transformer-based architectures, and are charting a new course, with already-globally-deployed solutions delivering real-world results and rapidly improving models through real-field applications. We are looking for a Software Engineer, V&V Intern to support the quality bar for Field AIâs off-road autonomy, legged, and humanoid robotics stacks. In this role, you will help design and execute scenario-based tests, improve automation and CI pipelines, and contribute evidence that demonstrates our systems are becoming safer, more reliable, and more deployment-ready over time. You will work closely with autonomy, robotics, and infrastructure engineers to turn logs, simulations, and field data into clear, actionable insights. This is a hands-on internship where you will contribute directly to real validation efforts â from simulation and log replay to structured field testing â while learning best practices for safety-critical software development in robotics. If you enjoy breaking systems so customers donât have to, care about measurable safety, and want your work to translate into real robots operating in the world, this role is for you.

Requirements

Strong interest in software or robotics testing, verification & validation, QA, reliability, or test infrastructure
Coding experience in Python and/or C/C++ for test harnesses, automation, or analysis
Familiarity with robotics logging workflows (e.g., ROS / ROS 2, bag files, telemetry) or willingness to learn quickly
Basic understanding of CI/CD concepts and reproducible development workflows
Comfort working with robotics sensor data (cameras, LiDAR, IMU, joint or force sensors) at a foundational level
Clear technical writing skills for test plans, results summaries, and debugging notes
An evidence-driven mindset with an interest in metrics, automation, and early issue detection

Nice To Haves

Experience with robotics simulators or testing frameworks (e.g., Gazebo, Isaac Sim)
Exposure to autonomy components such as perception evaluation, planning behaviors, or control validation
Familiarity with fault injection or robustness testing (sensor dropouts, time skew, GPS denial, actuator issues)
Experience building dashboards, log visualization tools, or scenario libraries
Field testing experience and strong safety discipline
Coursework or project experience in robotics, autonomy, or safety-critical systems

Responsibilities

Contribute to verification and validation across autonomy software stacks
Design and implement tests for perception, planning, localization, and control
Define clear pass/fail criteria for features and releases
Maintain traceability between requirements, tests, logs, and results
Build and execute scenario-based tests using simulation (SIL/HIL) and log replay
Develop realistic and adversarial test scenarios (terrain, lighting, weather, sensor noise or faults)
Support sim-to-real calibration through data replay and basic sensor or hardware characterization
Improve test infrastructure and developer feedback loops
Integrate tests into CI pipelines (e.g., GitHub Actions, GitLab) with actionable reporting artifacts
Build tooling for log capture, analysis, and automated failure triage
Track and visualize quality signals including scenario coverage, regressions, and safety or performance KPIs
Support structured field validation activities as needed
Assist with fault-injection and degraded-mode testing under supervision
Produce clear, lightweight evidence reports for internal reviews