Job description
Body Language Engineer, AI Companion
Location: Palo Alto, CA (on‑site)
About 1X
We build humanoid robots that work alongside people to solve labor shortages and create abundance.
The Role
As a Body Language Engineer on the AI Companion team at 1X, you will build and refine the body‑language capabilities of our robot, NEO. You’ll design and implement both how NEO expresses body language and how it perceives and responds to human non‑verbal cues via video understanding. By doing so, you’ll help create natural, fluid, and emotionally engaging human‑robot interactions that feel trustworthy and intuitive.
Job requirements
You Will
- Scale up data collection efforts for nonverbal communication behaviors
- Extend real‑time speech‑to‑speech models to also include real‑time emotive body language
- Design and implement video understanding models to interpret user body language and intent
- Devise methods to blend functional visuomotor tasks (e.g. object manipulation) with communicative behaviors (gesticulation, expressive motion)
Must Have
- 3+ years of experience training multi‑modal models combining language, audio, and vision
- Experience in robotics — such as path planning for collision‑free trajectories and kinematic retargeting for humanoid robots
- Strong ability to tackle open‑ended problems in conversation and behavior modeling: come up with creative solutions, build proofs-of-concept, and drive them through to production
Benefits & Compensation
- Salary Range: $150,000 – $250,000 + Equity
- Health, dental, and vision insurance
- 401(k) with company match
- Paid time off and holidays
Equal Opportunity Employer
1X is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, age, marital status, medical condition, genetic information, disability, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected under applicable law.
