Human-Robot Interaction Senior Applied Scientist, Fauna

The Robot Age; Sunnyvale (CA); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

Fauna in Sunnyvale, CA is seeking a senior applied scientist to advance human-robot interaction in domestic robots. You will connect research methods with product goals, shaping how people perceive and rely on living with smart machines.

Lead research into social, conversational, and expressive robot behavior, design interaction approaches using context and multimodal cues, and evaluate legibility, trust, and appropriateness in real-world use.

Qualifications

• Senior applied science background in HRI, AI interaction, robotics, or related fields.
• Experience translating ambiguous interaction goals into measurable research programs.
• Ability to work across model behavior, human factors, and embodied constraints.
• Strong communication with design and engineering partners.

Responsibilities

• Lead research into social, conversational, and expressive robot behavior.
• Design interaction approaches that use context, memory, and multimodal cues.
• Evaluate whether robot behavior is legible, trustworthy, and appropriate.
• Collaborate across robotics engineering, product design, and user research.

Skills

HRI research

Interdisciplinary collaboration

User trust evaluation

Communication with design/engineering

Job description

What the role actually is

Fauna is looking for a senior applied scientist to advance human-robot interaction for domestic robots. The role appears focused on interaction models that make a robot feel personal, expressive, and socially aware without losing reliability.

This is a research role with product consequences. It asks someone to connect technical methods, interaction design, evaluation, and the everyday reality of robots sharing space with people.

What you would work on

• Lead research into social, conversational, and expressive robot behavior
• Design interaction approaches that use context, memory, and multimodal cues
• Evaluate whether robot behavior is legible, trustworthy, and appropriate
• Collaborate across robotics engineering, product design, and user research

What they are asking for

• Senior applied science background in HRI, AI interaction, robotics, or related fields
• Experience translating ambiguous interaction goals into measurable research programs
• Ability to work across model behavior, human factors, and embodied constraints
• Strong communication with design and engineering partners

Why this one is worth a look

Senior HRI roles for consumer robots are still rare. This one is interesting because the research question is not only whether the robot can perform a task, but whether its behavior can support trust and repeated use at home.