Principal Research Scientist – Vision AI, Simulation & Physical AI at Jobgether – United States

This position is posted by Jobgether on behalf of a partner company. We are currently looking for a Principal Research Scientist – Vision AI, Simulation & Physical AI in the United States.

This role offers the opportunity to lead cutting-edge research at the intersection of Vision AI, multimodal foundation models, simulation-based learning, and embodied intelligence. You will drive the research agenda, build deployable AI systems, and mentor a small team of researchers and engineers. The position focuses on advancing perception, reasoning, and action capabilities in robotics, autonomous systems, and real-world environments. You will contribute to the design, large-scale training, evaluation, and benchmarking of innovative AI models while publishing high-impact research. This role blends deep technical expertise with leadership responsibilities and offers exposure to frontier AI challenges in both academic and applied settings. It is ideal for someone passionate about shaping the next generation of AI technologies and seeing their research realized in real-world systems.v

• Lead high-impact research in multimodal foundation models, world models, Vision AI, embodied AI, and agentic AI
• Design and implement novel architectures, training methods, and evaluation frameworks for perception, spatial intelligence, temporal reasoning, and autonomous decision-making
• Advance robotics capabilities including manipulation, contact-rich interaction, navigation, and long-horizon task execution under uncertainty
• Oversee large-scale model building, pretraining, fine-tuning, and distributed experimentation for AI and autonomous systems
• Integrate research outcomes with simulation and digital twin platforms such as Isaac Sim, MuJoCo, Omniverse, or related environments
• Establish rigorous benchmarks, reproducible evaluation frameworks, and safety measures for real-world deployment
• Mentor Ph.D. interns and engineers, fostering a strong research culture focused on rigor, originality, and scientific excellence

Requirements:

• Ph.D. in Computer Science, Robotics, Machine Learning, Computer Vision, Autonomous Systems, or a related field
• 5+ years of research experience in academia, industry, or advanced R&D environments
• Strong publication record in top AI, robotics, or vision conferences (CVPR, ICCV, ECCV, NeurIPS, ICLR, ICML, CoRL, RSS, or equivalent)
• Proven expertise in building or advancing large-scale foundation models, multimodal AI, Vision AI, embodied AI, simulation-based learning, or autonomous systems
• Deep knowledge of PyTorch and/or JAX, GPU training, distributed model development, and evaluation
• Demonstrated ability to lead ambitious technical programs and mentor junior researchers
• Preferred: experience with agentic AI, simulation platforms (Isaac Sim, MuJoCo, Omniverse), robotics, reinforcement learning, planning/control frameworks, or large-scale AI deployment infrastructure

Benefits:

• Competitive annual salary range: $350,000–$400,000
• Opportunity to lead frontier research and publish high-impact work
• Professional development and mentorship opportunities within a growing AI team
• Hybrid/remote work options from Seattle, WA or Palo Alto, CA
• Exposure to cutting-edge AI tools, large-scale model infrastructure, and real-world deployment
• Collaborative and innovative research environment