Head of Robotic Manipulation Software (Equity, Lead)

NVIDIA; Herndon (VA); On-site; USD 320,000 - 488,750; Full time

Job summary

NVIDIA is seeking an exceptional engineering leader to head Isaac Manipulation. You will steer strategy, roadmap, and execution for manipulation, guiding a world‑class robotics and ML team to shipping robust capabilities for grasping, motion, perception, and learned policies on real robotic arms.

You will collaborate with NVIDIA Research, Isaac Sim/Lab, and foundation-model teams, partnering with robot-arm OEMs and developers to meet real workflows and scale the platform across industries.

Qualifications

• BS, MS, or PhD in Robotics, Computer Science, Electrical/Mechanical Engineering, or a related field (or equivalent experience).
• 12+ total years in robotics or robotics-adjacent systems, including 3+ years leading, mentoring, and managing engineering teams.
• Hands-on expertise with robotic arms, manipulation, and physics from grasping, motion planning, and control to perception-guided manipulation.
• Working understanding of GPU-accelerated computing and modern ML infrastructure (CUDA, PyTorch, GPU-accelerated simulation, edge inference).
• Ability to work directly with external partners, customers, and developer communities and translate their needs into roadmap and shipping product.
• Strong software engineering fundamentals (modern C++ and Python) and ability to engage in architectural decisions.

Responsibilities

• Lead the Isaac Manipulation team: recruit, grow, and mentor engineers; set direction, raise the bar, and manage health and delivery.
• Shape the roadmap with Product Management for grasping, motion planning, and perception-for-manipulation.
• Translate hardest contact-rich tasks into robust platform capabilities for real-world use.
• Bridge research and product with NVIDIA Research, Isaac Sim/Lab, and foundation-model teams to bring sim-to-real approaches.
• Engage partners and developers as the technical face of Isaac Manipulation; gather requirements and ensure APIs meet workflows.
• Drive architecture and execution to fully use NVIDIA GPUs and the CUDA stack across simulation, training, and on-robot inference.
• Deliver multi-functional programs with ownership of quality, performance, and real-world deployment of learned policies.

Skills

Robotics leadership

C++ & Python

Roadmap strategy

Partner interface

Team mentorship

Education

Bachelor's/Master's/PhD in Robotics/CS/EE

Tools

CUDA

PyTorch

ROS 2

MoveIt

Job description

NVIDIA is seeking an exceptional engineering leader to head Isaac Manipulation. You will steer strategy, roadmap, and execution for manipulation, guiding a world‑class robotics and ML team to shipping robust capabilities for grasping, motion, perception, and learned policies on real robotic arms.

You will collaborate with NVIDIA Research, Isaac Sim/Lab, and foundation-model teams, partnering with robot-arm OEMs and developers to meet real workflows and scale the platform across industries.