Research Scientist, Robotics RL, DeepMind

Google LLC; Greater London; On-site; GBP 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

DeepMind London is seeking a Research Scientist specializing in Robotics RL to advance embodied AI and foundation models. You will design algorithms, train agents, and evaluate scalable robotic systems in real-world and simulated environments.

We value experience with reinforcement learning for mid-/post-training of robotics models, multimodal perception, and hands-on work with real robots or high-fidelity simulators. Collaboration across labs is essential.

Qualifications

• PhD required or equivalent practical experience.
• 2 years of experience in reinforcement learning or related techniques for mid-/post-training of robotics foundation models.

Responsibilities

• Design, train, and evaluate scalable algorithms for robotic agents, focusing on post-training, self-improvement, and mastery.
• Contribute to robotics foundation models and physical agents research including VLAs, WAMs, imitation learning, and simulation-based learning.
• Develop scalable research pipelines and robust software to quickly test hypotheses and accelerate research.
• Collaborate within a fast-paced team to pursue ambitious research goals.
• Generate ideas, set up experiments, test hypotheses, and report findings clearly.

Skills

Reinforcement learning

Education

PhD or equivalent

Job description

Research Scientist, Robotics RL, DeepMind

Share Research Scientist, Robotics RL, DeepMind

DeepMind London, UK

• PhD degree in a technical field or equivalent practical experience.
• 2 years of experiencein reinforcement learning or other techniques for mid-/post-training of foundation models and self-improvement in robotics, and other areas such as multimodal generative modeling, training and inference, vision-language/video, or other multimodal models.

Preferred qualifications:

• Experience working with simulators and real-world robots, esp. dexterous manipulation including multi-fingered hands or whole body control, as well as multimodal sensing (e.g. tactile).
• Experience deploying the above models and algorithms on real-world systems.
• Experience implementing large-scale systems and working with large real world data.
• A passion for bringing research from the lab to real-world robotic systems.

About the job

As a part of this role, you will lead our efforts in developing novel algorithms and models for embodied AI and Artificial General Intelligence as we are looking for creative thinkers with strong algorithm-design and programming skills that want to build the next-generation of AI agents for and grounded in the physical world. You will work in collaborative teams to invent algorithms and innovate on large foundation models such as Gemini Robotics. You will design prototype applications and work with real robots inside and outside the lab to address real-world use cases, strong algorithmic background in scalable machine learning (e.g. reinforcement learning/imitation learning; multimodal foundation models) and experience with real robots/robot simulation and large-scale training setups are valued.

In this role, you will have experience with approaches for mid-/post-training for robotics foundation models, including reinforcement learning and related techniques that enable agents to self-improve and achieve mastery, including experience with the use of Reinforcement Learning (RL) to train robot policies in simulation and in the real world. You will have experience with such techniques in the context of general multimodal frontier models (e.g. LLMs, VLMs, video models) and agentic systems are also highly valued.

Artificial intelligence will be one of humanity’s most transformative inventions. At Google DeepMind, we are a pioneering AI lab with exceptional interdisciplinary teams focused on advancing AI development to solve complex global challenges and accelerate high-quality product innovation for billions of users. We use our technologies for widespread public benefit and scientific discovery, ensuring safety and ethics are always our highest priority.

We are pushing the boundaries across multiple domains. Our global teams offer diverse learning opportunities and varied career pathways for those driven to achieve exceptional results through collective effort.

Responsibilities

• Design, train, and evaluate scalable algorithms for robotic agents, with a specific focus on post-training, self-improvement, and mastery.
• Leverage your experience to participate in a wide variety of other research themes in the context of robotics foundation models and physical agents (e.g. VLAs, WAMs, imitation learning, simulation-based learning, whole body control, dexterity, and more).
• Develop scalable research pipelines and write robust software to test hypotheses quickly and conduct research at pace.
• Collaborate within a fast-paced team to execute ambitious research goals.
• Generate creative ideas, set up experiments and test hypotheses, reporting and presenting research findings clearly and efficiently both internally and externally.

Google is proud to be an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer. We are committed to building a workforce that is representative of the users we serve, creating a culture of belonging, and providing an equal employment opportunity regardless of race, creed, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, national origin, disability, age, genetic information, veteran status, marital status, pregnancy or related condition (including breastfeeding), expecting or parents-to-be, criminal histories consistent with legal requirements, or any other basis protected by law. See also Google's EEO Policy , Know your rights: workplace discrimination is illegal , Belonging at Google , and How we hire .

Google is a global company and, in order to facilitate efficient collaboration and communication globally, English proficiency is a requirement for all roles unless stated otherwise in the job posting.

Equity is granted exclusively and discretionarily by Alphabet Inc. on the basis of an agreement concluded between you and Alphabet Inc. Alphabet Inc. is your sole contractual partner with respect to equity grants. GSU grants are not guaranteed, are discretionary, are subject to approval by the Alphabet Inc. board of directors or its delegate, the terms of the relevant Alphabet Inc. stock plan, and your grant agreement. They have no impact on statutory payments. Current or past grants do not confer an acquired right.