Principal Applied Scientist - AI & Robotics

GM • Mountain View, CA

2d • Hybrid

About The Position

Our AI Research team is building end-to-end robot policies that enable dexterous manipulation in real-world environments. We are advancing embodied AI by integrating multimodal perception , robot learning architectures, and physical execution systems to solve manipulation, autonomy, and simulation challenges at an industrial scale. As a Principal Applied Scientist , y ou will define technical direction, create breakthrough robot learning methodologies, and drive the execution of large-scale initiatives that deliver end-to-end manipulation policies. You will architect new model families, lead cross-functional research efforts, and guide teams in transitioning scientific advances into reliable robotic capabilities deployed in real systems.

Requirements

• PhD in a relevant STEM field , with a recognized track record in robotics, robot learning, or embodied AI.
• Significant experience designing and deploying robot learning systems on physical hardware , including manipulation tasks and real-time policy execution.
• Expertise in modern AI architectures (Transformers, diffusion models, VLM/VLA agents, imitation learning, offline RL) and ability to extend them to new embodied scenarios.
• Mastery of PyTorch , including model internals, performance optimization, distributed training, and debugging complex failures.
• Hands-on experience with ROS/ROS2 , motion planning stacks, and integration of ML components into robotic platforms.
• Evidence of high-impact contributions : top-tier publications, influential open-source efforts, field deployments, or foundational algorithms.
• Proven ability to lead ambiguous multi-disciplinary research programs and deliver tangible embodied AI outcomes.

Nice To Haves

• Experience establishing research agendas in robot learning or dexterous manipulation that resulted in widely adopted systems or protocols .
• Leadership of projects involving perception → policy → control integration , staged training, or multi-robot deployment.
• Deep expertise in at least one advanced area: Dexterous manipulation / affordance-driven action Multi-step task sequencing / long horizon reasoning Offline RL or imitation learning at scale Physics-informed or tactile-informed policies Foundation models for embodied agents
• Strong industry or academic presence: invited talks, program committees, major open-source contributions, or collaborations with robotics research institutions.

Responsibilities

• Define the research strategy and technical roadmap for embodied manipulation policies that span perception , training, control, and deployment.
• Invent or advance robot learning architectures (e.g., diffusion-based policies, ACT-style agents, multimodal embodied transformers) to enable robust dexterous manipulation.
• Architect end-to-end policy systems from multimodal sensing to hardware control, across simulation and real environments.
• Establish standards for data generation, demonstrations, simulation fidelity, evaluation, and sim-to-real adaptation for manipulation tasks.
• Guide cross-functional efforts to scale robot learning from prototypes to production , including reliability constraints, observability, and performance guarantees.
• Mentor scientists and engineers, influence hiring, and shape research priorities within the organization.
• Represent GM in external communities (e.g., CoRL , RSS, ICRA, NeurIPS ), pursue collaborations, and drive thought leadership in embodied AI.

Benefits

• GM offers a variety of health and wellbeing benefit programs. Benefit options include medical, dental, vision, Health Savings Account, Flexible Spending Accounts, retirement savings plan, sickness and accident benefits, life insurance, paid vacation & holidays, tuition assistance programs, employee assistance program, GM vehicle discounts and more.
• Upon successful completion of a motor vehicle report review, you will be eligible to participate in a company vehicle evaluation program, through which you will be assigned a General Motors vehicle to drive and evaluate.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Principal
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees