AI-Robotics Software Engineer - Cognitive Robotics Group

EURECAT

Eurecat is the second Research & Technology Organisation in Spain and one of the largest applied research and technology transfer organisation in Southern

Europe. It brings together the experience of more than 800 professionals who generate an annual turnover of 69 million euros and provides services to more than 2,000 companies. Eurecat integrates advanced digital capabilities and experience in biotechnology, industry and sustainability and collaborates with industry in R+D+I activities and projects, offering advanced scientific and technological services and specialized knowledge to respond effectively to the technological needs of very different business sectors, accelerating innovation, reducing both risks and spendings on scientific and technological infrastructures. The technology center participates in more than 200 large national and international consortium projects of high strategic R&I, has 230 patents and 10 spin-offs. Eurecat has eleven centers in Catalonia and presence in Madrid, Malaga and Chile.

Job description

The Robotics and Automation Unit at Eurecat Technology Center (Barcelona) seeks a highly motivated AI-Robotics Software Engineer with strong hands-on experience in software architecture, quality coding processes, AI deployment stacks, and model fine-tuning. This position specifically targets applied R&D in Cognitive Robotics, emphasizing robot cognition, autonomous decision-making, and natural human-robot interaction.

Our primary focus is on developing the robot's "brain"—enhancing its capabilities in perception, reasoning, planning, learning, behavior orchestration, and natural interaction. We leverage advanced AI technologies and methodologies, including semantic perception, open-world semantics, physical and spatial reasoning, world modeling, knowledge representation, and multimodal AI architectures involving Large Language Models (LLMs), Vision-Language Models (VLMs), Vision-Language-Action Models (VLAs), and emerging technologies like agentic AI.

Our team boasts nearly 20 years of experience specializing in Service and Industrial Robotics. Our mission is to push the boundaries of robotic autonomy and intelligence, enabling increasingly sophisticated robotic behaviors across sectors including assistive robotics, healthcare, flexible manufacturing, logistics, inspection, and field robotics (e.g., agriculture). Our collaborative environment encourages creativity, interdisciplinary teamwork, and innovation to achieve impactful solutions for society. Explore our research lines and projects: https://eurecat.org/en/field-of-knowledge/robotics-automation/
Come and join our dynamic, passionate team dedicated to innovation in robotics!

WHAT WILL YOU DO
If you join the team, you will:

Contribute to advanced cognitive robotics R&D

Contribute scientifically and technically to cognitive robotics projects.
Conceptualize and implement advanced robot perception, world understanding, and interaction capabilities, including semantic understanding, physical reasoning, multimodal perception, and comprehensive world modeling.
Define, prototype, and validate innovative robotic behaviors and interaction paradigms.

Design and deploy production-ready AI systems

Design, develop, validate, and maintain high-quality software architectures suitable for production-oriented R&D.
Deploy and optimize AI stacks across edge and cloud infrastructures, including model training pipelines and deployment on embedded systems (e.g., NVIDIA Jetson).
Fine-tune AI models to meet specific robotic application requirements.

Validate systems in real robotic settings

Support robot integration activities and experimental field trials when required.
Ensure robustness, performance, and reliability of deployed robotic solutions.

Collaborate, communicate, and disseminate

Participate in scientific dissemination and publication activities.
Assist in project management to guarantee successful project execution.
Maintain effective communication with clients and project consortium partners.
Requirements

SKILLS & EXPERIENCE

Must-Have

MSc degree (or equivalent professional experience) in Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Computer Vision, or related disciplines.
Hands-on experience contributing to cognitive robotics or AI-driven robotic systems.
Strong programming skills in Python and C++, with experience developing reusable, documented, and version-controlled code.
Practical experience with ROS or ROS2 and robotic software integration.
Experience using deep learning frameworks such as PyTorch or TensorFlow.
Familiarity with designing and maintaining modular, scalable, and maintainable software architectures.
Experience training, fine-tuning, or optimizing AI models for robotic or embodied AI applications.
Basic experience deploying AI components on real systems, including interaction with edge or cloud infrastructures.
Ability to work independently while collaborating effectively in multidisciplinary teams.
Strong communication skills and fluency in English.
Willingness to occasionally support robot integration, experiments, or field trials.
Availability for occasional travel.

Nice-to-Have

Experience deploying and optimizing full AI stacks across edge/cloud infrastructures, including production-level training pipelines.
Experience with deployment and optimization on embedded GPU platforms, such as NVIDIA Jetson, and familiarity with CUDA programming.
Advanced expertise in AI-driven perception and world understanding, including semantic perception, open-world semantics, physical reasoning, knowledge representation, world modeling, and multimodal approaches.
Background in cognitive robotics frameworks such as behavior trees, task planning, robot learning, deep learning, and human–robot interaction.
Familiarity with modern development frameworks and tools such as Node.js, Pydantic, or agentic AI approaches.
Experience with containerization (Docker) and CI/CD pipelines.
Participation in scientific dissemination activities, including publications, technical reports, or conference contributions.
Prior involvement in project coordination or technical project management activities.

WORKING ENVIRONMENT AND BENEFITS:
Our laboratory is located in Cerdanyola del Vallès, just outside Barcelona (Spain). Barcelona, besides being easily connected to the rest of Europe, offers excellent quality of life and a vibrant robotics ecosystem rich with initiatives, research groups, robotics companies, and engaging events—with many more opportunities emerging continuously!
Additionally, we offer:

Permanent contract.
Hybrid work model (home office/office).
Flexible working hours, shorter workdays on Fridays, and summer schedules.
Flexible remuneration package (health insurance, transport, lunch, studies/training, and kindergarten).
Professional growth through Eurecat Academy courses, weekly thematic sessions on Eurecat’s areas of knowledge, and language training (English, Catalan, Spanish)

Job: Investigador/a

Department: Robotics & Automation

Location: Cerdanyola del Vallès (Spain)

Contract: Permanent

Working day: Full time

Sector: Other

Vacancies: 1

Discipline: Innovation

Work modality: Hybrid