Research Scientist - Humanoid Robotics

Applied Intuition; Sunnyvale (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 250,000; Full time

Job summary

Applied Intuition seeks a founding senior Research Scientist for its Robotics initiative, within the Research Group. The role focuses on humanoid manipulation, dexterous hands, and deploying research into real systems with Applied's infrastructure.

You will shape the research agenda, collaborate with senior researchers, and publish work at CoRL, ICRA, RSS while guiding the team toward practical deployment on humanoid platforms.

Qualifications

• PhD in machine learning, computer vision, robotics, or closely related field.
• Publications in top-tier conferences/journals such as CoRL, ICRA, RSS, IROS.
• Strong technical convictions and ability to drive vision to execution.

Responsibilities

• Set and drive the research agenda for humanoid robotics with focus on dexterous manipulation.
• Conduct original research on world-action foundation models and RL for manipulation policies.
• Publish at top-tier venues and collaborate with engineers to deploy research on humanoid platforms.
• Partner with senior researchers to solve cross-cutting autonomy and robotics problems.

Skills

Robotics research

Reinforcement learning

Publications in top venues

Collaborative teamwork

Education

PhD in ML/CV/Robotics

Tools

Python

PyTorch/TensorFlow

ROS

Job description

Applied Intuition, Inc. is powering the future of physical AI. Founded in 2017 and now valued at $15 billion, the Silicon Valley company is creating the digital infrastructure needed to bring intelligence to every moving machine on the planet. Applied Intuition services the automotive, defense, trucking, construction, mining and agriculture industries in three core areas: tools and infrastructure, operating systems, and autonomy. Eighteen of the top 20 global automakers, as well as the United States military and its allies, trust the company’s solutions to deliver physical intelligence. Applied Intuition is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, with offices in Washington, D.C.; San Diego; Ft. Walton Beach, Florida; Ann Arbor, Michigan; London; Stuttgart; Munich; Stockholm; Bangalore; Seoul; and Tokyo. Learn more at applied.co.

We are an in-office company, and our expectation is that full-time employees primarily work from their Applied Intuition office 5 days a week. However, we also recognize the importance of flexibility and trust our employees to manage their schedules responsibly. This may include occasional remote work, starting the day with morning meetings from home before heading to the office, or leaving earlier when needed to accommodate family commitments. This in-office expectation does not apply to contractor positions

About the role

We are looking for a founding senior Research Scientist with a TL growth path within the Research Group at Applied Intuition. Robotics is a core vertical of our physical AI platform alongside autonomous vehicles — early stage, but with the full backing, resources, and infrastructure of a $15B company behind it. Our vision is for robotics to grow into its own vertical, and the person in this role will play a defining part in shaping that trajectory.

Humanoids and dexterous manipulation represent one of the last unsolved frontiers of physical AI, and this is where the most interesting research problems live. Unlike an academic lab constrained by professor-driven agendas, or a VC-backed startup optimizing for the next demo, this role offers something rare: real research autonomy paired with a concrete path to real-world deployment. You will help set the research agenda, work on a flat team in close collaboration with senior researchers Yihan Hu and Wei, and see your methods deployed into humanoid robots and dexterous hands through Applied's tools and infrastructure.

Our Research Group is composed of leading experts from top institutions and companies, recognized for their exceptional academic and industry contributions — including eight Best Paper awards at premier conferences and journals such as CVPR and ICRA. Learn more at appliedintuition.com/research.

We are hiring someone who has strong convictions about their technical roadmap and is looking for a place with the resources and scope to execute on them.

At Applied Intuition, you will:

• Set and drive the research agenda for humanoid robotics, with a focus on dexterous manipulation and relevant frontier research problems
• Conduct original research on world-action foundation models and reinforcement learning, delivering manipulation policies for humanoid robotic systems
• Serve as a founding senior researcher on the humanoid effort, shaping both the technical direction and the growth of the team
• Publish at top-tier venues (CoRL, ICRA, RSS, and similar) alongside other Research Scientists and interns
• Collaborate closely with Research Engineers and product teams to deploy your work into real humanoid platforms and dexterous hands
• Partner with senior researchers Yihan Hu and Wei on cross-cutting problems spanning autonomy and robotics

We’re looking for someone who has:

• 1+ years of industry research experience, or a completed post-doc in a relevant field
• A strong research record in robotics, manipulation, robot learning, or closely related areas, with publications in top-tier conferences or journals such as CoRL, RSS, ICRA, IROS
• PhD in machine learning, computer vision, robotics, or a closely related field
• Strong technical convictions and a clear point of view on where the field is going — and the self-motivation to drive that vision to execution for a team of researchers
• Technical and professional maturity: able to operate independently as a senior IC and set direction for others
• Passion for scalable, real-world robotics and physical AI, not just benchmark performance

Nice to have:

Hands-on experience in one or more of the following:

• Humanoid robotics platforms, dexterous manipulation and multi-fingered hands
• VLA/WAM and post-training for robotics
• Large-scale RL in robotic simulation, and sim-to-real transfer
• Imitation learning from teleoperation or human demonstration data
• Prior Tech Lead or founding-team experience

Don't meet every single requirement? If you're excited about this role but your past experience doesn't align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.

Applied Intuition is an equal opportunity employer and federal contractor or subcontractor. Consequently, the parties agree that, as applicable, they will abide by the requirements of 41 CFR 60-1.4(a), 41 CFR 60-300.5(a) and 41 CFR 60-741.5(a) and that these laws are incorporated herein by reference. These regulations prohibit discrimination against qualified individuals based on their status as protected veterans or individuals with disabilities, and prohibit discrimination against all individuals based on their race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or national origin. These regulations require that covered prime contractors and subcontractors take affirmative action to employ and advance in employment individuals without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status or disability. The parties also agree that, as applicable, they will abide by the requirements of Executive Order 13496 (29 CFR Part 471, Appendix A to Subpart A), relating to the notice of employee rights under federal labor laws.

FOR US-BASED ROLES

Applied Intuition is committed to providing an accessible and inclusive application and interview experience to applicants who are disabled veterans and other applicants with disabilities or medical conditions. Reasonable accommodations are available, requesting an accommodation will not affect your candidacy in any way, and you are not required to disclose the nature of your disability or medical condition in order to make a request.