Research Engineer, Reinforcement Learning

Research Engineer, Reinforcement Learning | AI & Robotics
Location: Palo Alto, CA (on-site)

About 1X
We’re an AI and robotics company based in Palo Alto, California, on a mission to build a truly abundant society through general-purpose robots capable of performing any kind of work autonomously.
We believe that to truly understand the world and grow in intelligence, humanoid robots must live and learn alongside us. That’s why we’re focused on developing friendly home robots designed to integrate seamlessly into everyday life.
We’re looking for curious, driven, and passionate people who want to help shape the future of robotics and AI. If this mission excites you, we’d be thrilled to hear from you and explore how you might contribute to our journey.

Role Overview
As a Research Engineer specializing in Reinforcement Learning, you will be responsible for teaching NEO new capabilities using RL algorithms. You'll work across simulation and real-world robots to build robust behaviors and deploy RL-trained skills into home environments. Your work will play a critical role in making our robots safer, more capable, and increasingly versatile.

Responsibilities

• Own the full stack of engineering tasks: from data engineering and model architecture to delivering polished products

• Train NEO on a wide variety of manipulation and locomotion tasks

• Collaborate with hardware teams to bridge the sim-to-real gap for policies trained in simulation

• Partner with controls, quality assurance, and data collection teams to ship RL policies to production

• Deploy reinforcement learning-trained skills into real-world home environments

Requirements

• Strong programming experience in Python and/or C++, with familiarity using build tools such as Bazel

• Proficiency with PyTorch

• Hands-on experience with simulation platforms like Isaac Sim or MuJoCo

• Experience training reinforcement learning policies, particularly for manipulation or locomotion

• Ability to collaborate cross-functionally with hardware, control, data, and QA teams

• Demonstrated experience addressing the sim-to-real gap

Benefits & Compensation

• Salary Range: $130,000 – $250,000

• 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.