Research Engineer (Robot Learning & Manipulation) - LYB7

Singapore Institute of Technology; Singapore; On-site; SGD 70,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

Singapore Institute of Technology invites applications for a Research Engineer (Robot Learning & Manipulation). This fixed-term role supports robotics research in aviation applications, covering data collection, policy training, evaluation, and deployment on real robotic systems.

You will lead end-to-end development of learning-based manipulation, integrating perception, control, and hardware across multiple platforms with industry partners and publications.

Qualifications

• Degree in a robotics, CS, mechanical/electrical engineering or AI field with hands-on research or industry work.
• Experience developing and deploying learning-based manipulation on real robots.
• Proficiency with PyTorch, Python, and ROS/ROS 2 for perception, planning and control.
• Experience with data collection via teleoperation or human-in-the-loop methods.
• Knowledge of robotics simulators such as Isaac Sim, MuJoCo or Gazebo.

Responsibilities

• Develop, implement, and evaluate learning-based manipulation methods for contact-rich tasks.
• Own end-to-end robot learning pipeline from data collection to deployment on real robots.
• Build data collection pipelines using teleoperation interfaces and ensure data quality.
• Train and deploy policies on robotic manipulators and mobile platforms.
• Integrate sensors, perception, planning, and learning into robust systems.
• Design laboratory and field evaluations, with benchmarking and reliability improvements.
• Collaborate with researchers and industry partners to translate research into practice.

Skills

Robotics research

Robot learning

PyTorch

Python

ROS / ROS 2

C++

Real-robot deployment

Teleoperation data

Software engineering

Education

Bachelor’s degree or higher in Robotics, CS, ME, EE, AI

Tools

Isaac Sim

MuJoCo

Gazebo

ROS tooling

Job description

Job Description

Research Engineer (Robot Learning & Manipulation) - LYB7

Job Description

Research Engineer (Robot Learning & Manipulation) - LYB7

Posting Start Date: 07/09/2026

Schemes of Service: Research

Division: Mechanical & Systems Engineering

Employment Type: Fixed Term

Role Overview

As Singapore’s University of Applied Learning, SIT works closely with industry and research partners in pursuing applied research with real-world impact. Our research staff have opportunities to develop industry-relevant capabilities while contributing to multidisciplinary research projects.

The primary responsibility of this role is to support SIT’s research activities under a programme focused on robotics applications in the aviation industry. The Research Engineer will contribute to the end-to-end robot learning pipeline for manipulation tasks, including data collection, policy training, evaluation, and deployment on real robotic systems.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop, implement, and evaluate learning-based manipulation methods, including imitation learning, reinforcement learning, and related approaches for contact-rich robotic tasks.
• Own the end-to-end robot learning pipeline, from demonstration/data collection and dataset preparation to policy training, evaluation, real-robot deployment, and iterative improvement.
• Develop real-world data collection pipelines using teleoperation or other demonstration interfaces, including sensing, synchronization, logging, and data quality control.
• Train and deploy learned policies on robotic manipulators and mobile manipulation platforms, and troubleshoot performance issues across perception, control, learning, and hardware.
• Integrate robot hardware, sensors, compute platforms, perception, motion planning, and learning components into robust robotic systems.
• Design and conduct laboratory and field evaluations, including performance benchmarking, failure analysis, and reliability improvement.
• Work with researchers and industry partners to translate research into practical robotic capabilities, and contribute to technical documentation, publications, demonstrations, and project outcomes.
• Support technical evaluation and procurement of robotic platforms, sensors, compute infrastructure, and related equipment where required.
• To communicate and liaise with internal and external stakeholder to ensure project deliverable are met.
• Any other ad-hoc duties assigned by Supervisor.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in Robotics, Computer Science, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Control, Artificial Intelligence, or a related field.
• Relevant experience in robotics research, development, or industry, with substantial hands‑on work on physical robotic systems.
• Demonstrated experience developing and deploying learning‑based manipulation methods on real robots, rather than simulation‑only experimentation.
• Practical experience with imitation learning, behavioural cloning, diffusion policies, reinforcement learning, or related robot learning approaches.
• Experience collecting and working with real‑world robot demonstration data, including teleoperation or other human‑in‑the‑loop methods.
• Strong hands‑on experience with robotic manipulators, ROS / ROS 2, motion planning, calibration, trajectory execution, and real‑robot debugging.
• Proficiency in PyTorch and Python, with working knowledge of C++ and good software engineering practices.
• Familiarity with robotics simulation environments such as Isaac Sim / Isaac Lab, MuJoCo, Gazebo, or equivalent.