Agentic AI/ML Engineer, Multimodal

FieldAI’s Irvine team is where embodied AI meets real robots, real sensors, and real field deployments. Based in the heart of Southern California’s robotics ecosystem, we build risk-aware, reliable, field-ready AI systems that solve the hardest problems in robotics and unlock the full potential of embodied intelligence.

If you want your work to ship, get tested on hardware, and improve through real deployments, Irvine is the place. We go beyond typical data-driven approaches or pure transformer-only architectures, combining rigorous engineering with learning systems proven in globally deployed solutions that deliver results today and get better every time our robots run in the field.

Who are We?

Field AI is transforming how robots interact with the real world.

We are building risk-aware, reliable, and field-ready AI systems that address the most complex challenges in robotics, unlocking the full potential of embodied intelligence. We go beyond typical data-driven approaches or pure transformer-based architectures, and are charting a new course, with already-globally-deployed solutions delivering real-world results and rapidly improving models through real-field applications.

Learn more at

https://fieldai.com

.

About the Job

Our

Field Foundation Model (FFM)

powers a global fleet of autonomous robots that capture massive streams of multimodal data across diverse, dynamic environments every day. As part of the

Insight Team

our mission is to transform this raw, multimodal data into actionable insights that empower our customers and engineers to deliver value.

Field-insight Foundation Model (FiFM)

is at the core of how we transform multimodal data from autonomous robots into actionable insights. As an

AI/ML Engineer

on the FiFM team, you will drive

research and model development

for one of Field AI’s most ambitious initiatives. Your work will span

computer vision, vision-language models (VLMs), multimodal scene understanding, and long-memory video analysis and search

, with a strong emphasis on

agentic AI

(tool use, memory, multimodal retrieval-augmented generation).This is a

full-cycle ML role

: you’ll curate datasets, fine-tune and evaluate models, optimize inference, and deploy them into production. It’s a blend of

applied research and engineering

, requiring creativity, rapid experimentation, and rigorous problem-solving. While FiFM is your primary focus, you’ll also contribute to broader

perception and insight-generation initiatives

across Field AI.

What You’ll Get To Do:

• Train and fine-tune

million- to billion-parameter

multimodal models

, with a focus on

computer vision

,

video understanding

, and

vision-language integration

• Track state-of-the-art research

, adapt novel algorithms, and integrate them into FiFM

• Curate datasets

and

develop tools

to improve

model interpretability

• Build scalable evaluation pipelines

for

vision

and

multimodal models

• Contribute

to

model observability

,

drift detection

, and

error classification

• Fine-tune

and

optimize

open-source

VLMs

and

multimodal embedding models

for efficiency and robustness

• Build and optimize

Multi-VectorRAG pipelines

with

vector DBs and knowledge graphs

• Create

embedding-based memory and retrieval chains

with token-efficient chunking strategies

What You Have:

• Master’s/Ph.D. in Computer Science, AI/ML, Robotics, or equivalent industry experience
• 2+ years of industry experience or relevant publications in CV/ML/AI
• Strong expertise in

computer vision, video understanding, temporal modeling, and VLMs

• Proficiency in

Python and PyTorch

with production-level coding skills

• Experience building

pipelines for large-scale video/image datasets

• Familiarity with

AWS or other cloud platforms

for ML training and deployment

• Understanding of

MLOps best practices

(CI/CD, experiment tracking)

• Hands-on experience fine-tuning open-source

multimodal models

using HuggingFace, DeepSpeed, vLLM, FSDP, LoRA/QLoRA

• Knowledge of

precision tradeoffs

(FP16, bfloat16, quantization) and

multi-GPU optimization

• Ability to

design scalable evaluation pipelines

for vision/VLMs and agent performance

The Extras That Set You Apart:

• Experience with

Agentic/RAG pipelines and knowledge graphs

(LangChain, LangGraph, LlamaIndex, OpenSearch, FAISS, Pinecone)

• Familiarity with

agent operations logging and evaluation frameworks

• Background in

optimization

: token cost reduction, chunking strategies, reranking, and retrieval latency tuning

• Experience deploying models under

quantized (int4/int8) and distributed multi-GPU inference

• Exposure to

open-vocabulary detection, zero/few-shot learning, multimodal RAG

• Knowledge of

temporal-spatial modeling

(event/scene graphs)

• Experience deploying AI in

edge or resource-constrained environments

Our salary range is generous and we consider each individual’s background and experience when determining final compensation. Base pay may vary based on role scope, job-related knowledge, skills, experience, and the Irvine, California market.

Why Join FieldAI in Irvine?

In Irvine, you will work where the robots are. Our local team builds and tests systems on real hardware with real sensors, then ships them to operate in unstructured, previously unknown environments around the world. We are solving one of robotics’ hardest challenges: reliable deployment outside the lab.

Our Field Foundational Models™ raise the bar for perception, planning, localization, and manipulation, with an emphasis on explainability and safety for real-world use.

You will collaborate with a world-class team that thrives on creativity, resilience, and bold thinking. We bring deep experience from organizations such as DeepMind, NASA JPL, Boston Dynamics, NVIDIA, Amazon, Tesla Autopilot, Cruise, Zoox, Toyota Research Institute, and SpaceX, along with a track record of field deployments and strong performance in DARPA challenge segments.

Be Part of the Next Robotics Revolution

We are looking for builders who want their work to leave the whiteboard and show up on robots. If you enjoy tackling tough, uncharted questions and working across disciplines, you will find your people here. Our teams span AI, software, robotics engineering, product, field deployment, and technical communication, all focused on shipping systems that perform in the real world.

Our headquarters is in Irvine, and we partner closely with teams there as well as colleagues across the US and around the world. Join us in Southern California and help define what dependable, field-ready autonomy looks like.

We value diverse perspectives and are committed to fostering an inclusive workplace. We evaluate candidates and employees based on merit, qualifications, and performance, and we do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, gender, national origin, ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, or any other legally protected status.

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses and identifying potential inconsistencies or verification signals in application materials based on available information. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans.

If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.