Senior Robotics Research Scientist

Details

We are now looking for a Senior Robotics Research Scientist! NVIDIA is at the forefront of the AI and robotics revolution, and our robotics teams are on a mission to build the essential technology that can enable any company to become a robotics company. The Seattle Robotics Lab (SRL) is focused on fundamental and applied robotics research across the full robotics stack, including perception, planning, control, reinforcement learning, imitation learning, and simulation. This research aims to transform research paradigms, transfer into NVIDIA’s robotics and simulation products, and create new robotics markets for the world.

The Seattle Robotics Lab has led many influential works presented at top robotics, AI, and computer vision conferences; these works include BayesSim, cuRobo, DeXtreme, DiSECT, Factory, GraspNet, ITPS, MimicGen, RVT, and SHAC. The work has deeply impacted the research community and NVIDIA products, including Isaac Sim, Isaac Lab, and Isaac Manipulator. SRL collaborates closely with other research and engineering teams to advance and leverage Cosmos and GR00T-N foundation models, as well as the Newton physics simulation engine. The team is targeting several grand challenges in robotics and is aiming to achieve never-before-seen capabilities within 2–3 years. We are looking for world-class senior research scientists to play a pivotal role in these efforts, providing both technical leadership and hands-on technical contributions. These scientists must have exceptional research and engineering skills, a proven research track record, strong supporting references, and a team-first mentality.

Responsibilities

• Develop algorithms, models, and methods for robotic manipulation and loco-manipulation, for both industrial and household applications.
• Integrate these methods into real-world robotic manipulation systems, including collaborative robot arms, industrial robot arms, mobile manipulators, humanoids, and dexterous hands.
• Co-lead and contribute to multi-person research projects that require a diverse set of skills across the robotics and machine learning stack.
• Engage with the academic community through high-impact publications, conferences, workshops, and code releases.
• Collaborate with product managers and engineering teams to transfer research into NVIDIA products with real-world impact.
• Mentor interns and more junior research scientists and engineers.

Requirements

• A PhD in Robotics, Machine Learning, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related field (or equivalent experience). At least 3 years of research experience after completing your PhD; 5+ years is preferred.
• Deep knowledge of both the theory and practice of robotics and AI, with a strong interest in connecting work to real-world robotics applications.
• A proven track record of research excellence, with work published in top robotics and AI conferences and journals such as RSS, CoRL, ICRA, IROS, IJRR, T-RO, NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, CVPR, ICCV, ECCV, and EMNLP.
• Exceptional communication, collaboration, and interpersonal skills, with significant experience working on teams as both a leader and a contributor.
• Exceptional programming skills in Python; familiarity with C++, CUDA, and Warp is a plus.
• Fluency in modern deep learning frameworks such as PyTorch and JAX.
• Significant experience with robotics frameworks such as ROS2 and physics simulation frameworks such as Isaac Sim, Isaac Lab, and MuJoCo.
• Deep comfort working through complexities of simulation and real-world robotics, including debugging physics simulators and renderers under rapid development; selecting, setting up, maintaining, and enhancing complex robotics hardware; debugging communication systems; and designing robust workflows for model training and evaluation.

Ways to Stand Out

• Prior experience working with product managers and engineering teams to transfer research into products.
• A history of successfully mentoring junior researchers, engineers, and/or interns.
• Experience with research areas and applications of particular interest: bimanual and dexterous manipulation; mobile manipulation and humanoid loco-manipulation; multisensory perception (vision, tactile, force/torque sensing); simulation, sim-to-real and real-to-sim; vision-language-action (VLA) models; and industrial applications such as bin-picking, kitting, and assembly.

Location and Team

The Seattle Robotics Lab is currently located near the University of Washington and is moving to a new office in the Fremont neighborhood in 2026. The position is based in Seattle, Washington, United States.

Compensation and Benefits

Your base salary will be determined based on your location, experience, and the pay of employees in similar positions. The base salary range is 184,000 USD - 299,000 USD for Level 4, and 224,000 USD - 356,500 USD for Level 5. You will also be eligible for equity and benefits.

Application

Applications for this job will be accepted at least until July 29, 2025.

Equal Opportunity

NVIDIA is committed to fostering a diverse work environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status, or any other characteristic protected by law.