Staff - Research Scientist - Robotics Team Leader
$188,000–$244,000 year
On-site · Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
Job Summary
Staff-level research leadership role leading robotics research on manipulation, locomotion, and human-robot interaction; drive strategic directions, lead collaborative projects from concept to validation, publish results, and transfer technologies to Mitsubishi Electric engineering/product divisions. Emphasis on independent research agenda, track record of publications, leadership, and ability to coordinate across MERL and international collaborators; requires PhD in a relevant field, 5+ years post-PhD experience, and strong programming with ROS/ROS2 (C++, Python) and robotics tooling. Compensation includes base salary with bonus and comprehensive benefits; at-will employment. Responsibilities include defining research strategy, leading interdisciplinary R&D teams, collaborating with business units, and translating research into real-world tech.
Required Qualifications
- PhD in Robotics, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related field
- 5+ years experience post PhD (minimum 3 years post-PhD required)
- experience with people management is an added advantage
- Demonstrated leadership capabilities, strategic thinking, alignment of research plans with business objectives
- Strong research background in robotics with a publication record in leading robotics or AI conferences
- Expertise in learning-based approaches for robotic systems (imitation learning, reinforcement learning)
- Vision-Language-Action (VLA) models
- Human-Robot Interaction (HRI)
- Dexterous manipulation
- Perception using vision, tactile feedback
- Motion planning and trajectory optimization
- Multi-robot systems
- Strong programming skills in C++, Python, or similar languages
- Familiarity with ROS / ROS2, robotics simulation tools (MuJoCo)
- Experience validating research results on robotic hardware would be a plus
- Strong publication record
- Independent proposal and execution of research programs with impact
- Strong teamwork, communication skills
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