Chef Robotics
Food Production
SeniorPerceptionEngineer
Neural analysis suggests this role is
optimal for Senior candidates.
“Senior Perception Engineer at Chef Robotics. Skills: Perception, Deep learning, Computer vision, Machine learning, Robotics. Design, train, and optimize deep learning models for detection, segmentation, pose estimation, and classification. Build low-latency inference pipelines and optimize models for embedded and edge hardware”
What You'll Achieve.
Ensure models perform accurately and efficiently in real-time on the factory floor; Drive continuous improvement cycles for model performance
Industry & Context.
Solve challenging perception problems specific to food robotics
Work onsite five days a week
What They're Looking For.
Must Have
5+ years of combined research and industry experience in computer vision and machine learning, Deep expertise in at least two of: instance/semantic segmentation, object detection, 3D perception, or multi-object tracking, Python experience building production-quality, maintainable code, Hands-on experience with deep learning frameworks and the full training pipeline from data to deployed model, Experience working with RGBD sensors, depth cameras, and point cloud data, Proven ability to build and optimize models for low-latency, real-time inference
Nice to Have
Experience using simulation environments (e.g. Isaac Sim, Gazebo) for synthetic data generation, domain randomization, and sim-to-real transfer of perception models, C++ proficiency for performance-critical modules and embedded deployment, Experience with cloud ML infrastructure (GCP, AWS) and containerization (Docker, Kubernetes), Background in autonomous vehicles, warehouse robotics, or other perception-heavy robotics applications, Contributions to open-source CV/ML projects or publications in top-tier venues (CVPR, ECCV, NeurIPS, etc.)
What You'll Do.
and optimize deep learning models for detection
Build low-latency inference pipelines and optimize models for embedded and edge hardware
Develop and improve multi-object tracking algorithms
Solve perception problems specific to food robotics (deformable objects
high visual similarity)
Own the end-to-end ML lifecycle: data collection
Develop tooling to monitor model performance in production and drive continuous improvement
Integrate new cameras and sensors for enhanced robotic vision
How You'll Work.
Team & Collaboration
Partner closely with robotics, hardware, and software engineers to translate perception capabilities into reliable end-to-end robot behaviors
Full Job Description
## Description Chef Robotics is accelerating the deployment of intelligent machines in the physical world, starting with food production — the sector facing the largest labor shortage in the U.S., with 1.14M unfilled jobs today and 3.1M projected by 2030. These roles can't be offshored, making robotics essential to keeping production onshore and strengthening America's manufacturing base. Our AI-powered robots automate food prep and assembly in commercial kitchens and food manufacturing, and have already produced over 110 million meals in production — generating the world's largest proprietary dataset for deformable food manipulation. Backed by investors including Kleiner Perkins, Construct, Bloomberg Beta, and Promus Ventures, and built by a team from Cruise, Zoox, Google, Tesla, and Amazon Robotics, Chef is rapidly scaling with multiple multi-year contracts and a mission to put an intelligent robot in every commercial kitchen. About the Role Chef Robotics is building autonomous robots that work alongside humans in commercial food preparation environments — and perception is at the heart of what makes them reliable. As a Perception Engineer, you will own the full stack of how our robots see and understand the world: from integrating cutting-edge camera hardware, to training production-grade deep learning models, to ensuring those models perform accurately and efficiently in real-time on the factory floor. You will work on some of the most technically rich problems in applied robotics — dense instance segmentation of deformable food items, real-time inference under tight latency constraints, sensor fusion, and robust tracking in cluttered, dynamic environments. You will not just train models; you will design the pipelines that gather and curate data, define the architectures that balance accuracy and speed, and own the deployment and field troubleshooting of what you build. We are a small, high-ownership team. We work onsite five days a week and move with startu
Applying for this Senior Perception Engineer role?
Most applicants get filtered before a human reads their resume. See if yours makes the cut.
How to Apply on Lever
- Lever uses a streamlined one-page form — apply in under 5 minutes.
- LinkedIn import works well; review parsed data before submitting.
- The cover letter field is optional but visible to reviewers — use it to differentiate.
- Referral codes from employees can significantly boost visibility of your application.
ANONYMOUS · UNFILTERED
What do employees actually say about Chef Robotics?
Real rants from real employees. Read before you apply.