Robotics / VLA Engineer - Dexterous Manipulation

Job Title: Robotics / VLA Engineer - Dexterous Manipulation

Job Description

Join the Advanced Control Group within R&D, focusing on developing next-generation intelligent robotic systems for manufacturing. Our team operates at the intersection of robotics, imitation learning, perception and vision-language-action (VLA) models, control and real-time systems, and simulation and real-world deployment in manufacturing environments. The immediate focus for this role is vision-driven manipulation, specifically leveraging Vision-Language-Action models, perception pipelines for robotics, and learning-based manipulation in structured assembly tasks.

Responsibilities

• Develop and deploy learning-based control policies for dexterous manipulation tasks in real-world assembly settings.
• Build and refine computer vision pipelines for object detection, pose estimation, and scene understanding in assembly environments.
• Fine-tune and experiment with pre-trained VLA or multimodal models on task-specific datasets.
• Maintain data pipelines for large-scale robot learning, including data collection, curation, and evaluation.
• Debug system performance across the stack: sensor input -> model -> control execution.

Essential Skills

• Strong background in machine learning and deep learning, with hands-on experience in model development and evaluation.
• Experience with computer vision (CNNs, feature extraction, perception pipelines).
• Understanding of vision-language-action (VLA) models, imitation learning, or diffusion-based policies.
• Proficiency in Python and deep learning frameworks (PyTorch / TensorFlow).
• Strong programming skills with emphasis on scalable, maintainable, and well-tested code.
• Experience with software engineering best practices (version control, code reviews, modular design).

Additional Skills & Qualifications

• Advanced degree in Robotics, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or related field.
• Experience with robotic systems.
• Hands-on experience with sim-to-real transfer and real-world robotics deployment.
• Familiarity with robotics systems (ROS/ROS2, simulation, real robot deployment) is a plus.
• Experience designing and running experiments, benchmarks, and evaluation pipelines.
• Contributions to research (publications, patents, or deployed systems) in robotics or ML.

Work Environment

This position is onsite at R&D. The role involves working with cutting-edge technologies in a collaborative and innovative environment focused on advancing robotics in manufacturing.

Job Type & Location

This is a Contract position based out of Warren, MI.

Pay and Benefits

The pay range for this position is $35.00 - $60.00/hr.

Eligibility requirements apply to some benefits and may depend on your job classification and length of employment. Benefits are subject to change and may be subject to specific elections, plan, or program terms. If eligible, the benefits available for this temporary role may include the following:

• Medical, dental & vision
• Critical Illness, Accident, and Hospital
• 401(k) Retirement Plan - Pre-tax and Roth post-tax contributions available
• Life Insurance (Voluntary Life & AD&D for the employee and dependents)
• Short and long-term disability
• Health Spending Account (HSA)
• Transportation benefits
• Employee Assistance Program
• Time Off/Leave (PTO, Vacation or Sick Leave)

Workplace Type

This is a fully onsite position in Warren,MI.

Application Deadline

This position is anticipated to close on Jun 22, 2026.

About Actalent

Actalent is a global leader in engineering and sciences services and talent solutions. We help visionary companies advance their engineering and science initiatives through access to specialized experts who drive scale, innovation and speed to market. With a network of almost 30,000 consultants and more than 4,500 clients across the U.S., Canada, Asia and Europe, Actalent serves many of the Fortune 500.

The company is an equal opportunity employer and will consider all applications without regard to race, sex, age, color, religion, national origin, veteran status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information or any characteristic protected by law.

If you would like to request a reasonable accommodation, such as the modification or adjustment of the job application process or interviewing process due to a disability, please email actalentaccommodation@actalentservices.com for other accommodation options.

San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance: Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, for all positions located in the city and county of San Francisco, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

Massachusetts Lie Detector: It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI): We may use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to support parts of our hiring process, including sourcing, screening, and evaluating candidates. AI helps assess applications and qualifications, but final decisions are made by our hiring team. By applying, you acknowledge and agree that your application may be reviewed using AI tools.