Research Scientist, World Models

Waabi; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 155,000 - 269,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive compensation and equity awards

Health and Wellness benefits

Unlimited Vacation

Flexible hours and Work from Home support

Daily drinks, snacks and catered meals

Team building activities and social events

Job summary

A leading AI technology company in San Francisco is looking for a Research Scientist in World Models. This role involves developing algorithms for the next generation of World Simulation models that reason about complex environments with minimal supervision. Candidates should have a Ph.D. in a relevant field and possess expert-level programming skills in Python and PyTorch. The position offers a competitive salary range between $155,000 - $269,000 USD and includes numerous benefits, fostering an inclusive workplace culture.

Qualifications

• Demonstrated technical innovation with a Ph.D. or equivalent experience.
• Strong prototyping and implementation skills in Python and distributed training.
• Expert knowledge in building generative or predictive models.

Responsibilities

• Conduct research in generative and predictive world-modeling.
• Collaborate with engineers to integrate models into training pipelines.
• Publish research at top conferences.
• Mentor junior scientists and interns.
• Stay updated on advances in generative AI.

Skills

Expert-level Python

Expert-level PyTorch

Strong communication

Knowledge of generative AI

Education

Ph.D. in Computer Vision, Machine Learning, Robotics, or related field

Job description

Waabi, founded by AI visionary Raquel Urtasun, is the leader in Physical AI. With a world-class team, we're unlocking the next era of autonomous transportation with technology that powers commercial autonomous trucks and robotaxis. Waabi is backed by and partners with world leaders in AI, automotive, logistics, and deep tech.

With offices in Toronto, San Francisco, Dallas, and Pittsburgh, Waabi is growing quickly and looking for diverse, innovative and collaborative candidates who want to impact the world in a positive way. To learn more visit: www.waabi.ai

Waabi’s autonomous-driving stack is powered by Waabi World, which aims to deliver realistic, scalable, controllable, and efficient simulation. As a Research Scientist in World Models, you will develop algorithms and productionise the next generation of World Simulation models that can reason about complex, dynamic 4D environments with minimal supervision. Your work will directly power Waabi World’s ability to comprehend the 4D physical world, simulate traffic participants, and generate realistic safety‑critical scenarios at scale.

You will…

• Conduct fundamental and applied research in generative and predictive world‑modeling (e.g., latent diffusion, video generation models, 3D Gaussian splatting, NeRF) on multi‑sensor multi‑modal data of driving scenes.
• Collaborate with simulation engineers to integrate models into large‑scale, distributed training and rendering pipelines.
• Publish high‑impact research at top conferences (CVPR, ECCV, ICCV, NeurIPS, ICLR, ICRA, SIGGRAPH).
• Mentor junior scientists and interns; foster a culture of scientific rigor and rapid experimentation.
• Stay on top of emerging advances in generative AI, differentiable rendering, knowledge distillation/compression, and robotics.

Qualifications:

• Demonstrated technical innovation: You have a Ph.D. in Computer Vision, Machine Learning, Robotics, or a related field or equivalent research experience pushing the boundaries of a technical field.
• Strong prototyping and implementation: You have expert‑level Python & PyTorch (or JAX) skills; strong software‑engineering fundamentals and experience with distributed training.
• Expert domain knowledge: You have built generative or predictive models of the physical world with scale and efficiency in mind for real‑world applications.
• Team player: You have worked in a close‑knit team of researchers and engineers and have strong communication to deliver successful projects.

Bonus:

• Proven ability to translate research into production‑quality code and measurable product impact.
• Demonstrated publications (first‑author) in top-tier venues on topics such as world models, generative simulation, video prediction, NeRF/3DGS, diffusion, flow‑matching, or foundation models for autonomy.

The US yearly salary range for this role is: $155,000 - $269,000 USD in addition to competitive perks & benefits. Waabi US Inc.’s yearly salary ranges are determined based on several factors in accordance with the Company’s compensation practices. The salary base range is reflective of the minimum and maximum target for new hire salaries for the position across all US locations. Note: The Company provides additional compensation for employees in this role, including equity incentive awards and an annual performance bonus.

Perks/Benefits:

• Competitive compensation and equity awards.
• Health and Wellness benefits encompassing Medical, Dental and Vision coverage (for full‑time employees only).
• Unlimited Vacation.
• Flexible hours and Work from Home support.
• Daily drinks, snacks and catered meals (when in office).
• Regularly scheduled team building activities and social events both on‑site, off‑site & virtually.
• As we grow, this list continues to evolve!

Waabi is a technology start‑up building technologies to transform the way the world moves. Join our talented team to be a part of the future and to make an impact!

Waabi is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating a supportive, inclusive, and accessible workplace for all our employees. We seek applicants of all backgrounds and identities, across race, color, ethnicity, national origin or ancestry, age, citizenship, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, military or veteran status, marital status, pregnancy or parental status, caregiver status, disability, or any other characteristic protected by law. We make workplace accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities as required by applicable law. If reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process please let our recruiting team know.