Robotics Research Intern, Manipulation (AI)

Location: Los Altos, California, United States; hybrid, in-office role

Salary: $45–$65/hour for California-based roles

Company

hirify.global develops AI, robotics, driving, and materials-science technologies designed to improve human life and mobility.

What you will do

• Develop and evaluate agentic approaches using vision-language models for robotic manipulation tasks.
• Integrate foundation-model agents with reusable capabilities for perception, motion planning, grasping, and manipulation.
• Investigate three-dimensional spatial reasoning, action feasibility, execution monitoring, and failure recovery.
• Design and conduct experiments on physical robotic platforms and/or in simulation.
• Analyze performance, characterize failure modes, and evaluate generalization across tasks and environments.
• Communicate findings through technical presentations, demonstrations, reports, and potential publications.

Requirements

• Currently pursuing a Master’s or PhD in Robotics, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related field.
• Strong programming skills in C++ and/or Python, with experience developing, testing, or debugging technical software.
• Solid understanding of robotics fundamentals, including one or more of robot kinematics, dynamics, motion planning, perception, or control.
• Robotics-related project experience through research, coursework, or personal projects using physical hardware and/or simulation.
• Ability to formulate technical problems, design experiments, and systematically analyze results.
• Interest in robotic manipulation, autonomous systems, and connecting high-level reasoning with physical robot capabilities.

Nice to have

• Hands-on experience with robotic manipulators, motion-planning frameworks, or robot simulation environments.
• Familiarity with 3D geometry, computer vision, grasp planning, or contact-rich manipulation.
• Experience with ROS/ROS 2 or other robotics software frameworks.
• Experience with vision-language models, LLM agents, or autonomous planning systems.
• Familiarity with imitation learning, reinforcement learning, or vision-language-action models.
• Research experience demonstrated through publications, open-source contributions, or substantial technical projects.

Culture & Benefits

• Paid 12-week summer internship with hybrid, in-office work.
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance.
• Paid time off, including holiday pay and sick time.
• Collaborative and inclusive environment focused on advancing AI and robotics research.
• Equal employment opportunity is provided in accordance with applicable laws.