Robotics Researcher - Physical AI

Rockwell Automation•Waterloo, ON

7d•CA$121,440 - CA$182,160•Hybrid

About The Position

The Robotics Center of Excellence (RCoE) is the "innovation engine" of Rockwell Automation robotics. We are a dynamic, high-impact research group dedicated to applying the latest research to transform real-world industrial operations at scale. Our mission is to move beyond rigid, pre-programmed automation and usher in the new era of Autonomous Operations. Here, you'll work alongside world-class experts in a culture that prizes rapid prototyping, intellectual curiosity, and the drive to see "impossible" ideas working on the factory floor. We are looking for a Robotics Researcher who lives at the intersection of deep theory and hands-on implementation. In this applied research role your primary directive is to push the boundaries of what AI and robotics can do in the physical world. You will lead innovative projects that encompass the full stack of physical intelligence, from high-level reasoning to low-level control, redefining what is possible in the factories of tomorrow. You are encouraged to stay at the cutting edge: attending conferences, publishing your findings, and filing patents for world-first technologies. Your focus will be on building embodied intelligence that allows robots to see, reason, and manipulate the world with human-like dexterity. You will report to the Sr. Manager, Mobile Robot Technology, in the Technology and Innovation Unit. This is a Hybrid role in Waterloo, ON.

Requirements

Bachelor's Degree or Equivalent Years of Relevant Work Experience.

Nice To Haves

Typically requires 5+ Years of related work experience.
Education: Graduate degree (Masters or PhD) in Computer Science, Robotics, or related field.
Experience: 5+ years of hands-on experience in robotics research or high-tech R&D (can include graduate research)
Research: A proven track record of research excellence with publications in top conferences / journals.
Physical AI Expertise: Deep theoretical and practical knowledge in Reinforcement Learning, Vison Language Models, and/or World Models.
Manipulation & Perception: Experience in robotic grasping, 6D pose estimation, and multi-modal sensor fusion (Vision, Tactile, Force/Torque).
Software Mastery: You have an excellent talent for software design and the ability to understanding unfamiliar systems and their workings
Data Science: Experience developing and curating large multi-modal training dataset from real-world and synthetic data.
AI Frameworks: Hand-on experience with PyTorch, TensorFlow, Isaac Lab
Simulation Tools: Skill in using simulation environments for data generation and policy verification.
Problem Solving: A track record of solving complex, unstructured problems in the robotics domain.
Experience with high-performance ML systems (CUDA, TPUs, JAX, Warp)
Experience with distributed GPU computing
Experience with ROS/ROS2
Experience engaging with the open source community with track record of working with maintainers to improve libraries.

Responsibilities

Architect & Implement: Design and deploy state-of-the-art algorithms for robotic perception, planning, and dexterous manipulation.
Physical AI Development: Train and fine-tune large-scale foundation models (VLAs/VLMs) for real-world industrial tasks.
Simulation-to-Real: Develop advanced "sim-to-real" pipelines using them to accelerate policy training.
Technology Scouting: Investigate, benchmark, and report on emerging robotics trends and academic breakthroughs to keep ahead of the curve.
Software Excellence: Write clean, scalable, and code leveraging modern system programming languages and following software engineering best practices.
Collaborative R&D: Work closely with Business Units to optimize robotic systems for new AI-driven capabilities.
Dissemination: Document your research through technical reports, white papers, and high-impact publications.