Engineer – Embodied AI Lab Automation: Vision-Guided Real-Time Robotic Manipulation (Robotics)

Location: On-site at hirify.global in Upton, New York, United States

Salary: $71,900–$119,000 per year, commensurate with qualifications, education, experience, and internal level.

Company

hirify.global is a U.S. Department of Energy-supported multidisciplinary research laboratory focused on discovery science and transformative technology.

What you will do

• Develop vision-guided, real-time robotic manipulation methods for harvesting fragile micron-scale protein crystals.
• Design and deploy closed-loop perception and control pipelines using visual feedback and visual servoing.
• Integrate perception outputs with motion planning and execution using ROS2 and MoveIt2.
• Perform hand-eye and camera calibration to ensure accurate 3D spatial alignment.
• Evaluate system robustness, perception uncertainty, failure modes, and real-world performance.
• Collaborate with crystallographers, beamline scientists, controls engineers, mechanical engineers, and data scientists while documenting results for reports, publications, and presentations.

Requirements

• B.S. in Robotics, Computer Science, Physics, Applied Mathematics, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related field; all degree requirements must be completed by the start of employment.
• Demonstrated experience developing and implementing robotics systems.
• Strong programming skills in Python and/or C++.
• Knowledge of robot kinematics, coordinate transformations, motion planning, trajectory generation, and calibration methods.
• Ability to work on-site at hirify.global in Upton, New York.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a DOE Uncleared Personal Identity Verification credential is required.

Nice to have

• M.S. in Robotics, Computer Science, Physics, Applied Mathematics, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related field.
• Experience with vision-guided control, ROS2-based ecosystems, camera and hand-eye calibration, and coordinate frame registration.
• Experience integrating machine learning models into robotics.
• Familiarity with micro-manipulation, sensor fusion, state estimation, real-time debugging, and performance tuning.

Culture & Benefits

• Two-year term appointment with possible renewal based on performance and funding availability.
• Multidisciplinary collaboration across crystallography, controls, engineering, and data science.
• Employee benefits program provided by hirify.global.
• Federal laboratory environment focused on scientific discovery and technological innovation.
• REAL-ID-compliant documentation is required for access to the laboratory site, including interviews.

Hiring process

• Submit a brief cover letter describing relevant experience and career goals together with a resume or CV.
• Selected candidates complete the DOE credentialing process as part of onboarding.