Senior Data Operations Engineer

About the Role

Field AI is transforming how robots interact with the real world. Our R&D team, the FieldAI Research Institute (FAIRI), is based in Cambridge, MA, where we build risk-aware, field-ready AI systems that unlock general purpose intelligence for robotics.

FAIRI is looking for a Senior Data Operations Engineer to run the day-to-day of our data operations function: building the tooling the pipeline runs on, staying hands-on enough to dogfood and stress-test that tooling yourself, and managing the interns and contractors who carry out the bulk of day-to-day collection and annotation. You’ll work directly with the Research Operations Partner to scale FAIRI’s in-house data function, and you’ll set the technical and operational bar the rest of the Data Operations Engineering team is built around.

What You’ll Do

Data Tooling & Infrastructure - 25%

• Build and maintain hardware sensor suites - sensor harnesses, camera arrays, mounting fixtures, wearable sensor stacks (including soldering and cable assembly).
• Write and maintain QA scripts for in-house and vendor data drops.
• Build and maintain annotation software and other internal data tooling.

Data Collection & Annotation - 25%

• Run motion capture, teleoperation, and human-subjects data collection sessions yourself - the fastest way to dogfood and stress-test tooling and protocols before handing them to the team.
• Annotate robotics/AV datasets (object interaction, contact state, multi-agent) against FAIRI’s evaluation framework.
• Use hands-on collection and annotation work to surface tooling gaps and drive the tooling roadmap above.

Team Management & Documentation - 25%

• Manage and schedule data collection interns and contractors; own day-to-day throughput and quality.
• Onboard and train interns/contractors on equipment, SOPs, and the informed-consent process.
• Write and maintain SOPs and other supporting documentation for data collection, annotation, and lab operations.
• Own first-level QC and escalation for intern/contractor output; flag protocol or safety issues.

Technical Demo Support - 25%

• Learn the product stack and operate various robotic platforms to demonstrate FieldAI FFM (Field Foundation Model) capabilities.
• Support demo planning and execution, coordinating with the Research Operations Partner
• Help produce content showcasing FieldAI’s ability to deploy robots on dull, dirty, and dangerous jobs.
• Troubleshoot hardware and software issues live during demos with important stakeholders.

What You Bring

You don’t need every skill below, but you should bring real, hands-on depth in several of them:

• Soldering and cable assembly
• Motion capture systems (e.g., Vicon, OptiTrack, markerless/IMU)
• Data annotation for robotics or autonomous vehicles
• QA for hardware and/or software
• 3D scanning and 3D printing

Data collection and human subjects research

• AR/VR development or production
• Python, Java, or equivalent scripting
• LIDAR
• Robotics (platforms, sensors, or control)
• Linux command line
• Blender or Unity
• Film/TV production

Beyond the toolkit

• Comfortable moving between hardware and software in the same day: genuinely hands-on, not hands-off.
• High ownership: you can take an open-ended ask (“troubleshoot why this data had issues ”) and run with it without much hand-holding.
• Strong documentation habits: you leave SOPs and processes better than you found them.

What Sets You Apart

• Background in film/TV production, game development, data operations, or another field where wearing every hat is normal
• Interest in humanoid robotics and how machines learn from human movement

Why FAIRI

This role sits inside FAIRI’s Research Operations function, supporting the Humanoid Program. It’s built to grow: the Data Operations Engineering track is expected to scale from one person today to a small team over the next 12-18 months, and this hire is a leading candidate for Data Operations Engineering Lead as that team stands up.