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Engineer II/ Senior Engineer, Robotics Platform Evaluation

Lila SciencesCambridge🇺🇸United States

Why this role stands out

You'll drive critical decisions about future robotics platforms in a hands-on, systems-level role, shaping evaluation methodologies and directly impacting Lila Sciences' technological advancements. This hybrid opportunity is perfect for experienced robotics engineers who thrive on end-to-end ownership and want to contribute to a cutting-edge company. Apply now to build your expertise and advance your career in a dynamic and impactful environment.

Quick overview

SeniorityMid Senior
Work modeHybrid
LocationCambridge, United States
Talent AcquisitionRobotics

Job description

Your Impact at LILA

Lila is building a dedicated platform evaluation function within our robotics organization. The team tests and benchmarks alternative robotics platforms, including mobile manipulators, AMRs and AGVs, and other form factors, against our current production baseline. Consistent methodology across platforms is the point: results have to be directly comparable to be useful.

As a Robotics Platform Evaluation Engineer, you own robots end to end. You unbox and commission new hardware, integrate it with our software stack and infrastructure, execute the full test program, and turn the results into decision-ready comparisons that inform which platforms we adopt.

This is a hands-on, systems-level role. You will be in the lab working directly with hardware, not reviewing spec sheets. You will also shape the evaluation methodology and the tooling behind it, so each platform assessment runs faster and more consistently than the last.

What You'll Be Building

  • Commission new robotics platforms from unboxing through integration with our stack
  • Own end-to-end evaluation of assigned platforms, from test plan to benchmark report
  • Run test suites spanning navigation, manipulation, perception, and controls
  • Integrate platforms with ROS2 and Nav2, adapting drivers, configurations, and interfaces
  • Characterize manipulator, gripper, and AMR/AGV performance against comparable baselines
  • Extend the shared evaluation framework and tooling for future platform assessments
  • Flag integration issues, safety concerns, and platform limitations early and clearly

What You'll Need to Succeed

  • Professional experience deploying robotics platforms in production, commercial, or applied R&D settings
  • Hands-on ROS2 and Nav2 experience in real deployments, not simulation alone
  • Experience with manipulation and pick-and-place, including motion planning and grasp execution
  • Experience with controls for robot arms or mobile bases
  • Experience integrating and calibrating camera or lidar perception pipelines
  • Direct experience with AMRs/AGVs or 6 to 7 DoF arms, including grippers and end effectors
  • Track record turning test results into clear, decision-ready comparisons

Bonus Points For

  • Evaluated or compared multiple robotics platforms or vendors head to head
  • Experience with mobile manipulators, meaning an arm mounted on a mobile base
  • Experience with robotics simulation tools (Isaac Sim, Gazebo, or similar) for platform validation
  • Built internal tooling or frameworks for standardized robot testing
  • Background in industrial, warehouse, logistics, or manufacturing automation

Compensation

We offer competitive base compensation with bonus potential and generous early-stage equity. Your final offer will reflect your background, expertise, and expected impact.

U.S. Benefits. Full-time U.S. employees receive a comprehensive benefits program including medical, dental, and vision coverage; employer-paid life and disability insurance; flexible time off with generous company wide holidays; paid parental leave; an educational assistance program; commuter benefits, including bike share memberships for office based employees; and a company subsidized lunch program.

International Benefits. Full-time employees outside the U.S. receive a comprehensive benefits program tailored to their region. USD salary ranges apply only to U.S.-based positions; international salaries are set to local market.

Expected Base Salary Range
$93,600—$158,400 USD

About LILA

Lila Sciences is building Scientific Superintelligence™ to solve humankind's greatest challenges. We believe science is the most inspiring frontier for AI. Rather than hard-coding expert knowledge into tools, LILA builds systems that can learn for themselves.

LILA combines advanced AI models with proprietary AI Science Factory™ instruments into an operating system for science that executes the entire scientific method autonomously, accelerating discovery at unprecedented speed, scale, and impact across medicine, materials, and energy. Learn more at www.lila.ai.

Guided by our core values of truth, trust, curiosity, grit, and velocity, we move with startup speed while tackling problems of historic importance. If this sounds like an environment you'd love to work in, even if you don't meet every qualification listed above, we encourage you to apply.

We’re All In

Lila Sciences is committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status.

Information you provide during your application process will be handled in accordance with our Candidate Privacy Policy.

A Note to Agencies

Lila Sciences does not accept unsolicited resumes from any source other than candidates. The submission of unsolicited resumes by recruitment or staffing agencies to Lila Sciences or its employees is strictly prohibited unless contacted directly by Lila Science’s internal Talent Acquisition team. Any resume submitted by an agency in the absence of a signed agreement will automatically become the property of Lila Sciences, and Lila Sciences will not owe any referral or other fees with respect thereto.

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