Senior Research Scientist- Robotics AI
Bosch Group · Sunnyvale, CA
$185,000–$215,000from the description
Jul 6, 2026
Sunnyvale, CA
Jul 21, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
A senior research role focused on advancing AI for robotics and autonomous systems, including motion planning, computer vision, and large vision-language-action models. The position involves both original research and hands-on engineering to move results into real products, alongside publishing findings and collaborating with internal teams and external academic partners. It suits candidates with a strong background in reinforcement learning, deep learning, and robotic or automotive planning.
Senior level · 5+ years · San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA · Master's required · Full-time
“or” means any one of them counts — you don't need all of them.
We read this from the posting text with AI. Skim the description below before ruling yourself out.
How this req sits in the market our data
Roughly 60 people in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA area plausibly meet what this posting asks for (data scientists). range 35–90
Applicant volume Moderate — A normal amount of company. The rare requirements below are what will separate a shortlisted application from the rest.
Rare in this occupation — lead with these, and say what you built with them.
Most people in this occupation already list these. Still required — just not what gets you shortlisted.
What the occupation pays Median $189,150 (middle half $152,859–$224,286). This posting is about at that midpoint.
Estimated from BLS employment for this occupation and area, per-skill prevalence across our listing corpus, and published wage benchmarks — as of Jul 28, 2026. It is a model, not a headcount.
Why we read it this way (9)
The SOC classification is a genuine judgment call: the role is framed as 'Research Scientist' with a strong ML/AI modeling focus (15-2051 Data Scientists), but it also requires substantial engineering implementation and system integration work, making 15-1252 Software Developers a credible alternative.
Degree requirement: the JD accepts a Master's degree with 2–4 years of industry experience OR a Ph.D. (with no stated industry experience floor beyond the 5-year R&D minimum). Because a Master's is the lowest formal degree that satisfies the gate, the degree requirement is set to Masters.
The 5-year minimum reflects the stated 'minimum of 5 years of R&D experience' at the role level; the 2/4 years post-Master's figure is a secondary qualifier within the degree path, not a lower overall floor.
Python, C++, and Rust are listed as interchangeable options ('one or more programming languages commonly used in ML, e.g., Python, C++, Rust'); Python is used as the primary name with C++ and Rust as alternatives.
PyTorch and TensorFlow are listed as interchangeable examples of 'major machine learning frameworks'; PyTorch is used as the primary name with TensorFlow as the alternative.
Reinforcement learning techniques (PPO, DQN, DDPG) are cited as examples of familiarity expected; RL itself is the hard gate, not the individual algorithm names.
All preferred-section skills (multimodal transformers, vision-language-action models, diffusion models, NeRF, Gaussian splatting, object detection, 3D scene understanding, BEV) appear explicitly under 'Preferred Qualifications'.
Compensation range of $185,000–$215,000/year is stated as specific to US-California; the posting also mentions an annual corporate bonus and a long-term incentive bonus, which are not captured in the comp fields.
Ignored 3 non-technology phrase(s) as skills (responsibilities/concepts, not named tools): motion planning, vision-language-action models, 3D scene understanding.
Read the full posting
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