AI Engineer, Policy, Optimus

Tesla Motors, Inc.
124000 - 558000 USD
paid holidays, flex time, 401(k)
United States, California, Palo Alto
Aug 10, 2026
What to Expect Tesla is scaling the manufacturing of Optimus to the order of millions of bots. The scale of this fleet of bots unlocks previously infeasible methods for real world learning, real2sim2real and policy evaluation. Similar to the end-to-end models for Full Self Driving, we strive for simple but scalable algorithms for Optimus. As an AI Engineer working on Optimus Policy, you will work on the data, model training, evaluation and deployment of Optimus policies for a wide range of tasks - including but not limited to loco-manipulation, dexterous manipulation, navigation outdoors and on uneven terrain etc. You will get to work on the full training stages of the model - from pre-training to reinforcement learning. What You'll Do Create and scale datasets from a variety of sources (human, bot, simulation) Design and train efficient and performant policies that complete a wide variety of tasks on Optimus Create evaluation benchmarks for Optimus policies for fast iterative improvement Large-scale pre-training and reinforcement learning to create intelligent and robust policies Deploy policies on Optimus What You'll Bring Hands-on experience training and deploying policies for robotics or autonomous systems Strong proficiency in PyTorch and large-scale distributed training Proven track record shipping real-world neural policies Familiarity with multimodal sensing (vision, proprioception, tactile) and modern ML methods Production engineering mindset focused on safety-critical, low-latency systems Passion for building general embodied intelligence through reinforcement learning Benefits Along with competitive pay, as a full-time Tesla employee, you are eligible for the following benefits at day 1 of hire: Medical plans > plan options with $0 payroll deduction Family-building, fertility, adoption and surrogacy benefits Dental (including orthodontic coverage) and vision plans, both have options with a $0 paycheck contribution Company Paid (Health Savings Accounts) HSA Contribution when enrolled in the High-Deductible medical plan with HSA Healthcare and Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) 401(k) with employer match, Employee Stock Purchase Plans, and other financial benefits Company paid Basic Life, AD&D Short-term and long-term disability insurance (90 day waiting period) Employee Assistance Program Sick and Vacation time (Flex time for salary positions, Accrued hours for Hourly positions), and Paid Holidays Back-up childcare and parenting support resources Voluntary benefits to include: critical illness, hospital indemnity, accident insurance, theft & legal services, and pet insurance Weight Loss and Tobacco Cessation Programs Tesla Babies program Commuter benefits Employee discounts and perks program Expected Compensation $124,000 - $558,000/annual salary + cash and stock awards + benefits Pay offered may vary depending on multiple individualized factors, including market location, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. The total compensation package for this position may also include other elements dependent on the position offered. Details of participation in these benefit plans will be provided if an employee receives an offer of employment.