This role pays less than
52%
of similar roles. Most pay
$162,000–$228,412
— the shaded band above.
At the midpoint, this role pays about
$194k
versus about
$195k
for comparable roles.
Based on 240 similar postings.
Employer
About Caterpillar
Caterpillar Inc. is the world''s largest manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines, and diesel-electric locomotives. Industry: Heavy Equipment & Manufacturing
Caterpillar currently has
30 open roles
on FindRole.
Listed pay typically runs
$147,760–$190,176
across 29 roles with salary data.
Lead Physical AI Engineer will lead the development of high-fidelity digital twins and machine dynamics models for construction machines. This role serves as a technical authority on NVIDIA Newton, establishing modeling standards, simulation methodologies, and best practices across the enterprise. The engineer builds physics-based representations of rigid-body dynamics, powertrain systems, hydraulic actuation, and tire-ground interactions to support reinforcement learning, synthetic data generation, and autonomous system validation. Key responsibilities include developing Reduced Order Models for real-time analysis and ensuring simulation results correlate with real-world machine behavior. The role requires expertise in NVIDIA Isaac Sim, Omniverse, OpenUSD, Python, and C++. By bridging machine physics and robotics simulation, the engineer solves complex challenges in construction autonomy, creating a simulation ecosystem to accelerate the deployment of intelligent machines operating in dynamic environments while improving engineering efficiency through advanced digital twin technologies.