Founding Research Scientist

ROPEDIA PTE. LTD.; Singapore; On-site; SGD 80,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading AI startup in Singapore seeks a Research Lead to join the founding team. You will design models for scene understanding, collaborating with engineering teams and producing research artifacts. Candidates should hold a PhD or equivalent in areas like Computer Vision, with a strong background in 3D modeling and proficiency in Python. This is a full-time opportunity to work at the forefront of spatial and physical intelligence in an exciting research environment.

Qualifications

• PhD or equivalent research experience in relevant fields.
• Strong track record in human modeling or 3D/4D reconstruction.
• Proficient in Python and deep learning frameworks.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement models for scene understanding.
• Work closely with engineering and hardware teams.
• Produce research papers and demo systems.

Skills

Python

Deep learning frameworks

3D geometry

Computer Vision

Machine Learning

Education

PhD or equivalent experience

Job description

About Us

Ropedia is a Singapore-based, early-stage AI startup focused on building the data infrastructure for spatial and physical intelligence. Our core team brings together expertise from Tsinghua, Meta, Google, and UC Berkeley, and we have already achieved early-stage commercial viability and backed by top-tier VC and angel investors from Google, Nvidia, Amazon and etc.

Role Overview

Location: Singapore

Type: Full-time

Job Description

You will join the founding research team and lead model design and research in core areas such as world models, 3D/4D perception, and egocentric understanding. Multiple research tracks are open under this role, and candidates may match one or more directions based on their background.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement models for world and scene understanding using egocentric, multi-view, and multimodal data.
• Work closely with engineering and hardware teams to deliver reusable, maintainable research code and internal tools.
• Co‑design data collection protocols, evaluation metrics, and ablation studies.
• Produce research papers, internal technical reports, and demo systems at appropriate stages of the project.

Requirements

• PhD (or equivalent research experience) in Computer Vision, Machine Learning, Graphics, Robotics, or related fields.
• Strong track record in at least one of the following areas: human modeling, 3D/4D reconstruction, egocentric vision, or scene/world modeling.
• Proficient in Python and mainstream deep learning frameworks (PyTorch preferred).
• Solid foundation in 3D geometry, camera models, and numerical optimization.
• Able to drive ideas from concept to implementation and deployment. Clear communication skills are required.

Research Directions

A. Human Modeling & Motion Understanding

Focus: Human/hand/face modeling, motion and deformation priors, human–object interaction, and affordance modeling Preferred Background: Experience in human pose/shape estimation, SMPL-type models, motion capture, or motion generation.

B. 3D/4D Reconstruction & Neural Rendering

Focus: Multi-view and dynamic scene reconstruction, NeRF/Gaussian Splatting, novel view synthesis Preferred Background: Experience in 3D reconstruction or neural rendering; familiarity with camera calibration and bundle adjustment (BA).

C. Egocentric Vision & Interaction

Focus: Egocentric action and intention understanding, hand–object interaction, gaze/attention modeling, and task structure modeling Preferred Background: Experience in video understanding, action recognition, or egocentric vision.

D. Scene Reconstruction & World Modeling

Focus: Long-term consistent 3D/4D scene mapping, scene graphs, object- and space-centric representations, and spatial reasoning Preferred Background: Experience in large-scale mapping, semantic reconstruction, or agent world models.