Research Scientist, Robotics

Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence; Seattle (WA); On-site; USD 167,030 - 260,570; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, and vision insurance

401k plan

Monthly commuting and wellness stipends

Generous vacation and sick leave policies

Job summary

The Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence in Seattle is looking for a Research Scientist to enhance research in foundation models for robotics. The role involves developing core research problems, mentoring interns, and engaging in various critical activities. Applicants should have a PhD in a relevant field and a strong publication record. The generous salary range and comprehensive benefits support a collaborative research environment with potential for significant impact in AI and robotics.

Qualifications

• Strong foundation in robot manipulation, planning and control, and real-world robot systems.
• Strong publication record in AI-related areas.
• Experience working with real robot systems and deep learning.

Responsibilities

• Develop and investigate core research problems in foundation models for robotics.
• Contribute to open methods, data sets, and benchmarks.
• Mentor interns and participate in groundbreaking work.

Skills

Robot manipulation

Planning and control

Reinforcement learning

Imitation learning

Deep learning frameworks

Software engineering skills

Education

PhD in AI-related area

Tools

Simulation environments

Job description

Persons in these roles are expected to work from our offices in Seattle. On-site requirements vary based on position and team. If you have questions about on-site work arrangements for this role, please ask your recruiter.

Our base salary range is $167,030 - $260,570, and in addition we have generous bonus plans to provide a competitive compensation package.

Who You Are:

Research Scientists in the Ai2 Robotics Team will have the unique opportunity to develop and investigate core research problems in foundation models for robotics, and contribute to the development of completely open methods, data sets, benchmarks, and models. They will experiment with large-scale simulation tools and robots in the real world.

Research Scientists will work on multiple exciting research projects in the above areas but can also contribute and engage in a variety of other activities critical to our research and mission. These include opportunities to lead projects, mentor interns and pre-doctoral candidates, author and present scientific papers, and collaborate with researchers at other organizations including universities.

At Ai2, you will be working with world‑class AI and robotics researchers and talented software engineers. You will perform team‑based, ambitious research, with a mandate to strive for big breakthroughs, not just incremental progress, in an exciting and interactive workplace.

Who We Are:

Ai2’s Robotics team is led by Dieter Fox. We aim to develop and leverage scalable simulation domains to scientifically investigate the scaling and generalization capabilities of foundation models for robotics, and use these insights to develop broadly competent robots. Following a longstanding tradition at Ai2, we are committed to fully open‑source research and work toward application domains with a positive impact on society.

We are looking for applicants interested in robotics, with a focus on core techniques in robot manipulation, large‑scale training in simulated environments, sim‑to‑real transfer, robot foundation models, and skill learning.

We regularly publish in high‑profile conferences and journals in robotics (CoRL, ICRA, RSS), computer vision (CVPR, ICCV, ECCV), and machine learning (e.g., NeurIPS, ICLR, ICML).

We collaborate frequently with researchers on other Ai2 teams focused on computer vision, large language models, and others. Our main office has close ties and unique access to researchers at the University of Washington, only 1.5 miles away. Researchers excited about such internal and external collaborations are encouraged to apply.

Your Next Challenge:

All scientists have the opportunity to mentor interns (and other students) and will participate directly in Ai2’s groundbreaking work. There are no restrictions on publications.

What You’ll Need:

• A strong foundation (typically PhD level) in one or more of the following areas: robot manipulation, planning and control, RL and imitation learning, real‑world robot systems, simulation environments and sim2real, and world models and foundation models.
• A strong publication record in AI‑related areas. Example venues include CoRL, ICRA, RSS, CVPR, ICCV, ECCV, NeurIPS, ICLR, etc. Contributions to research communities (e.g., workshop organization, tutorials) are a plus.
• Strong software engineering skills. Experience working with real robot systems and/or with deep learning frameworks.
• (Optional) Research experience in related areas like large‑scale multi‑node training, training dynamics, efficiency, data curation, and multimodal model debugging, post‑training methods, among others.
• (Optional) Contributions to open‑source research libraries.

Physical Demands and Work Environment:

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by a team member to successfully perform the essential functions of this position. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the functions.

• Must be able to remain in a stationary position for long periods of time.
• The ability to communicate information and ideas so others will understand. Must be able to exchange accurate information in these situations.
• The ability to observe details at close range.
• Can work under deadlines.

Benefits:

• Team members and their families are covered by medical, dental, vision, basic life insurance, basic accidental death and dismemberment insurance, short‑term disability, long‑term disability, and an employee assistance program.
• Team members are able to enroll in our voluntary life insurance program, our voluntary accidental death and dismemberment program, our health savings account plan, our healthcare reimbursement arrangement plan, and our health care and dependent care flexible spending account plans.
• Team members are able to enroll in our company’s 401k plan.
• Team members will receive $125 per month to assist with commuting or internet expenses and will also receive $200 per month for fitness and wellbeing expenses.
• Team members will also receive up to ten sick days per year, up to seven personal days per year, up to 20 vacation days per year and twelve paid holidays throughout the calendar year.
• Team members will be able to receive annual bonuses and can participate in the long‑term incentive plan.

Ai2 is proud to be an Equal Opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, transgender status, sexual stereotypes, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics. You may view the related Know Your Rights compliance poster and Pay Transparency Nondiscrimination Provision by clicking on their corresponding links.

This employer participates in E‑Verify and will provide the federal government with your Form I‑9 information to confirm that you are authorized to work in the U.S. If E‑Verify cannot confirm that you are authorized to work, this employer is required to give you written instructions and an opportunity to contact the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) or Social Security Administration (SSA) so you can begin to resolve the issue before the employer can take any action against you, including terminating your employment. Employers can only use E‑Verify once you have accepted a job offer and completed the Form I‑9.

We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations to employees and applicants with disabilities to the full extent required by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). If you feel you need a reasonable accommodation pursuant to the ADA, you are encouraged to contact us at [e-mail]

Note: This job description in no way states or implies that these are the only duties to be performed by the team members(s) of this position. Team members will be required to follow any other job‑related instructions and to perform any other job‑related duties requested by any person authorized to give instructions or assignments. All duties and responsibilities are essential functions and requirements and are subject to possible modification to reasonably accommodate individuals with disabilities. To perform this job successfully, the team member(s) will possess the skills, aptitudes, and abilities to perform each duty proficiently. Some requirements may exclude individuals who pose a direct threat or significant risk to the health or safety of themselves or others. The requirements listed in this document are the minimum levels of knowledge, skills, or abilities. This document does not create an employment contract, implied or otherwise, other than an at‑will relationship.