← Back to all roles

Lead Research Scientist – Mapping & Localization

New York, NY

Job Description

We are seeking a Lead Research Scientist to drive the development of robust, high-performance mapping and localization systems for our next-generation indoor robots. This role is ideal for a hands-on technical leader with deep expertise in 3D geometry, SLAM, and probabilistic robotics, alongside familiarity with learning-based approaches. You will architect the system, build, and lead a team focused on enabling our robots to understand, navigate, and adapt to dynamic environments in real-time.

Key Responsibilities

  • Lead the architecture design, implementation, and optimization of core localization and mapping systems, including odometry, vision-based SLAM, map management, and relocalization.
  • Collaborate across perception, planning, and hardware teams to ensure spatial systems are aligned with product and platform needs.
  • Design evaluation pipelines, benchmarks, and simulation environments to assess and iterate on localization performance.
  • Stay up-to-date with the latest research and industry advances, and selectively bring cutting-edge techniques into production systems.
  • Depending on seniority of applicant, potentially manage and mentor a small team of researchers and engineers, helping set technical direction and maintaining a strong code and research culture.

Required Skills & Qualifications

  • Education: Ph.D. in Computer Science, Robotics, or a related field with a strong focus on spatial AI, SLAM, or 3D perception; exceptional candidates with a Master’s degree and extensive experience will also be considered.
  • Work Experience: 5+ years of industry experience post-PhD working on autonomous robots or autonomous vehicles, with a demonstrated track record of shipping real-world mapping and localization systems.
  • Technical Expertise:
    • Deep expertise in 3D geometry, probabilistic estimation, and multi-sensor fusion for localization and mapping.
    • Strong software engineering skills in C++ and Python.

Nice-to-have Skills

  • Prior leadership or tech lead experience, including mentoring engineers and/or scientists and setting technical strategy.
  • Familiarity with neural implicit representations, self-supervised spatial learning, or end-to-end learned SLAM systems.
  • Experience integrating localization with planning and control systems for closed-loop autonomy.
  • Understanding of robot deployment constraints (e.g. compute, memory, bandwidth) and experience optimizing for embedded platforms.

What We Offer

  • The opportunity to work on groundbreaking robotics technology, enabling the next generation of humanoid robots to interact dynamically with their environments.
  • A collaborative and innovative environment that fosters creativity and exploration.

Compensation

$150k - $225k/yr, plus equity

Apply