Your new role and your team

Sanctuary, a global leader in building AI-based control systems for humanoid robots, is seeking a staff research scientist to join our team in engineering and innovating unique robotic manipulation tasks.

As a research scientist, your role will include selecting state-of-the-art methods, creating training and data collection systems, overseeing the evaluation of these algorithms in simulation environments, and implementing them on our robots in real-world situations. You’ll also enjoy the exclusive opportunity to make a meaningful impact by working with new tactile and proprioceptive sensing technologies, thanks to our in-house robot with skilled hands.

Success criteria

• Create, develop and enhance cutting-edge Reinforcement Learning (RL) and Imitation Learning (IL) algorithms and evaluate their performance in practical applications
• Stay up to date with the latest developments in RL/IL technologies and their applications in robotics
• Identify, communicate and lead research initiatives that hold promise for the broader Machine Learning team
• Discover strategies to enhance your existing RL/IL learning processes, taking into account key performance metrics such as sample efficiency, speed, computational resources, and scalability
• Innovate RL/IL training and data collection pipelines to accelerate implementation on physical robots
• Collaborate within a diverse team to devise innovative algorithms and investigate the root causes of errors in existing applications

Your experience

Qualifications

• Ph.D. in machine learning, computer science, applied mathematics, or equivalent practical background in reinforcement learning and/or imitation learning
• 5+ years of hands-on experience implementing and deploying automated processing tasks, both in simulation and on physical robots
• 5+ years of practical experience applying various reinforcement and/or imitation learning methods, with a focus on real-world robotics
• 4+ years of experience developing and optimizing large-scale parallel simulations for reinforcement learning
• Proven experience in continuous learning, and using adaptive model training to improve long-term performance and accuracy
• Proven experience in transitioning from sim to real
• Experience transforming machine learning research and trained models into real production
• Actively involved in integrating machine learning models into the robotics platform
• Proven track record of publishing research at prestigious AI conferences such as ICRA, IROS and CORL

skills

• Development using Python 3.8 or later
• Working knowledge of PyTorch and/or TensorFlow
• Familiarity with ROS2
• Experience using and applying reinforcement learning principles
• Experience with Atlantic instruments. Jira, Confluence, or equivalent like GitLab

Features

• Above all, a consistent positive attitude and willingness to do whatever it takes to find solid solutions to complex problems
• Strong leadership skills in organizing R&D work for machine learning projects
• Eager to face new challenges with perseverance and positivity
• Patience, persistence, and attention to detail when solving performance problems
• Enthusiasm for bringing human intelligence to machines
• Ability to drive the development of new functionality from concept to production
• Ability to multi-task and prioritize in a fast-paced environment

Working at Sanctuary AI

Sanctuary AI is an equal opportunity employer; Employment at Sanctuary AI is based on skills, competency and qualifications and will not be influenced in any way by race, color, religion, sex, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability, or any other legally protected status. In 2023, Sanctuary AI moved into a state-of-the-art office facility and was recognized by LinkedIn as a leading startup.

Compensation and benefits

Sanctuary offers a market-leading compensation package that includes competitive salaries, equity stakes, and a full suite of benefits for permanent employees, including health coverage, paid time off, state-of-the-art work facilities, and work location flexibility depending on the role. Our commitment to fairness ensures that our total compensation consistently exceeds market standards.

About Sanctuary AI

Founded in 2018, Sanctuary is building humanoid robots and a new control system that integrates symbolic logic and reasoning with data-driven robotics foundation models. We use our robots to collect vision, audio, touch, and proprioception data from the robot’s perspective as they perform work tasks in the real world. We use this data to train foundation models for the multimodal robot. Because our systems are vertically integrated, we can design, deploy, and optimize at scale. Our mission is to create the world’s first human-like intelligence in general-purpose robots.

Recruitment and Employment Agency Notice:

Recruiting and hiring are done internally by Sanctuary AI. We are not seeking or soliciting any new partnerships or agreements with agencies at this time . Any employment agency or professional recruiter (“Agency”) that submits an unsolicited resume(s) or introduces a potential job candidate through the Sanctuary AI Recruitment Site or directly to any Sanctuary AI employee, irrevocably grants Sanctuary AI the unrestricted right to engage, hire, or contract with such candidate at its sole discretion. Sanctuary AI alone without any compensation to the agency. We appreciate your interest in working together, and if needed, our Talent Acquisition team will contact any external companies directly.