Senior Robotics Engineer, Mission Autonomy

FieldAI’s Irvine team is where embodied AI meets real robots, real sensors, and real field deployments. Based in the heart of Southern California’s robotics ecosystem, we build risk-aware, reliable, field-ready AI systems that solve the hardest problems in robotics and unlock the full potential of embodied intelligence. If you want your work to ship, get tested on hardware, and improve through real deployments, Irvine is the place. We go beyond typical data-driven approaches or pure transformer-only architectures, combining rigorous engineering with learning systems proven in globally deployed solutions that deliver results today and get better every time our robots run in the field.

Who are We

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.

Learn more at https://fieldai.com.

About the Job

Field AI is seeking a rigorous and innovative Senior Robotic Autonomy Engineer for Mission Autonomy to play a vital role in the development of highly advanced robotic and AI systems by designing and implementing intelligent decision-making frameworks. Your contribution is essential to advancing our autonomous robotic platforms and delivering cutting-edge AI-driven solutions to customers. This is a unique career opportunity to join a rapidly growing company and contribute to the success of enterprise clients in a dynamic, fast-paced environment.

What You’ll Get To Do

Perception-Aware Mission Autonomy: Couple runtime perception outputs (e.g. semantic 3D scene understanding) with world information, to create a unified semantic scene graph that enables perception-aware real-time mission planning and execution with spatial reasoning, feasibility validation, online task replanning, and natural language driven robotic autonomy.

VLM-Based Long-Horizon Reasoning: Design and implement a VLM-based mission controller that observes the robot's camera view and scene graph, reasons about mission progress, and selects actions from reusable primitives and tools, with step verification, failure detection and recovery, online replanning, and feedback handling for natural language driven long-horizon missions.

Multi-Robot Mission Autonomy: Support the development of a multi-robot mission autonomy framework for task allocation, execution monitoring, and coordination across heterogeneous robots, and expand the robotics testing framework through unit and integration tests to ensure system reliability, safety, and performance.

What You Have

PhD in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Robotics, or a related field.

Advanced proficiency in Python programming, C++, ROS/ROS 2, Linux, Git, Docker

5+ years experience with AI-driven autonomy software deployed on real robots (e.g. task and motion planning, VLM/LLM-based planners, state machines, behavior trees) and low-level robotic manipulation skills 

Ability to effectively and efficiently communicate with all teams, and to lead technical efforts across them 

Strong problem-solving skills and proven ability to navigate complex software systems

Strong work ethic, highly self-motivated, and able to work independently while managing multiple priorities

The Extras That Set You Apart

Experience with simulation environments (e.g., Gazebo, Isaac Sim)

Experience with heterogeneous multi-robot systems (UGV, UAV, mobile manipulator)

Experience with LLM/VLM-based long-horizon planning and failure recovery in robotic systems

Our salary range is generous and we consider each individual’s background and experience when determining final compensation. Base pay may vary based on role scope, job-related knowledge, skills, experience, and the Irvine, California market. Why Join FieldAI in Irvine? In Irvine, you will work where the robots are. Our local team builds and tests systems on real hardware with real sensors, then ships them to operate in unstructured, previously unknown environments around the world. We are solving one of robotics’ hardest challenges: reliable deployment outside the lab. Our Field Foundational Models™ raise the bar for perception, planning, localization, and manipulation, with an emphasis on explainability and safety for real-world use. You will collaborate with a world-class team that thrives on creativity, resilience, and bold thinking. We bring deep experience from organizations such as DeepMind, NASA JPL, Boston Dynamics, NVIDIA, Amazon, Tesla Autopilot, Cruise, Zoox, Toyota Research Institute, and SpaceX, along with a track record of field deployments and strong performance in DARPA challenge segments. Be Part of the Next Robotics Revolution We are looking for builders who want their work to leave the whiteboard and show up on robots. If you enjoy tackling tough, uncharted questions and working across disciplines, you will find your people here. Our teams span AI, software, robotics engineering, product, field deployment, and technical communication, all focused on shipping systems that perform in the real world. Our headquarters is in Irvine, and we partner closely with teams there as well as colleagues across the US and around the world. Join us in Southern California and help define what dependable, field-ready autonomy looks like. We value diverse perspectives and are committed to fostering an inclusive workplace. We evaluate candidates and employees based on merit, qualifications, and performance, and we do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, gender, national origin, ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, or any other legally protected status.