Research Scientist, Simulation Agents

Waabi; Toronto; Hybrid; CAD 221,000 - 377,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive compensation and equity

Health and Wellness benefits

Unlimited Vacation

Flexible hours and Work from Home

Catered meals and team events

Job summary

Waabi, a leader in Physical AI with offices in Toronto, is seeking a Research Scientist for the Behaviors team. You will drive research on realistic and controllable simulation agents for Waabi World, collaborating with multidisciplinary teams to push the frontiers of imitation and reinforcement learning in autonomous systems.

You’ll publish at top ML/robotics venues, mentor junior scientists, and contribute to production-ready solutions with strong software engineering skills and large-scale

Qualifications

• Masters/PhD in machine learning, computer science, engineering, or a related field.
• Strong background in imitation learning and/or reinforcement learning.
• Publications in top-tier conferences or journals related to machine learning or robotics.
• Proficiency with modern ML frameworks such as PyTorch, TensorFlow, or Jax.

Responsibilities

• Own and pursue a research agenda to develop realistic and controllable simulation agents.
• Advance the state-of-the-art in RL, imitation learning, and generative models for simulation.
• Collaborate with simulation, autonomy, and safety teams to define high-impact research problems and ship solutions into production.

Skills

Imitation learning

Reinforcement learning

ML frameworks

Research collaboration

Education

Master's or PhD in ML/CS/Engineering

Tools

PyTorch

TensorFlow

JAX

Job description

Waabi, founded by AI visionary Raquel Urtasun, is the leader in Physical AI. With a world-class team, we’re unlocking the next era of autonomous transportation with technology that’s powering commercial autonomous trucks and robotaxis. Waabi is backed by and partners with world leaders in AI, automotive, logistics, and deep tech.

With offices in Toronto, San Francisco, Dallas, and Pittsburgh, Waabi is growing quickly and looking for diverse, innovative and collaborative candidates who want to impact the world in a positive way. To learn more visit: www.waabi.ai

The Behaviors team at Waabi develops cutting-edge simulation agents and scenario generation algorithms for Waabi World, our simulation platform. As a Research Scientist on the Behaviors team, you will work closely with our multidisciplinary team of research scientists and engineers to invent the next generation of models and algorithms that power Waabi World. Your work will define the scenarios that push our self-driving system to its limits, generate the training signal that makes them better, and form a core pillar of our scientific safety case to put them on the road.

You will…

• Own and pursue a research agenda to develop realistic and controllable simulation agents.
• Advance the state-of-the-art in imitation learning, reinforcement learning, generative models, foundation models, planning and search, and other related areas for simulation agents.
• Collaborate with our simulation, autonomy, and safety teams to define high-impact research problems, ship solutions into production, and drive progress towards Waabi’s milestones.
• Mentor junior scientists and interns; foster a culture of scientific rigor and rapid experimentation.
• Publish high-impact research at top-tier conferences in machine learning or robotics.
• Strong software engineering skills, including experience with large-scale training or simulation.

Qualifications:

• Masters/PhD in machine learning, computer science, engineering, or a related field.
• Strong background in imitation learning and/or reinforcement learning.
• Publications in top-tier conferences or journals related to machine learning or robotics.
• Proficiency with modern ML frameworks such as PyTorch, TensorFlow, or Jax.

Bonus:

• Experience in self-driving, traffic simulation, or a related field.
• Proven ability to take research from prototype to production systems.

The US yearly salary range for this role is: $158,000 - $269,000 USD in addition to competitive perks & benefits. Waabi US Inc.’s yearly salary ranges are determined based on several factors in accordance with the Company’s compensation practices. The salary base range is reflective of the minimum and maximum target for new hire salaries for the position across all US locations. Note: The Company provides additional compensation for employees in this role, including equity incentive awards and an annual performance bonus.

Perks/Benefits:

• Competitive compensation and equity awards.
• Health and Wellness benefits encompassing Medical, Dental and Vision coverage (for full-time employees only).
• Unlimited Vacation.
• Flexible hours and Work from Home support.
• Daily drinks, snacks and catered meals (when in office).
• Regularly scheduled team building activities and social events both on-site, off-site & virtually.
• As we grow, this list continues to evolve!

Waabi is a technology start-up building technologies to transform the way the world moves. Join our talented team to be a part of the future and to make an impact!

Waabi is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating a supportive, inclusive, and accessible workplace for all our employees. We seek applicants of all backgrounds and identities, across race, color, ethnicity, national origin or ancestry, age, citizenship, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, military or veteran status, marital status, pregnancy or parental status, caregiver status, disability, or any other characteristic protected by law. We make workplace accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities as required by applicable law. If reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process please let our recruiting team know.