VP of Research (Embodied AI & Reinforcement Learning

An elite, venture-backed robotics company is seeking an exceptional VP of Research to lead the next generation of embodied AI research. The company is developing frontier robotics technology that combines reinforcement learning, foundation models, simulation, and large-scale robot learning to create intelligent physical systems capable of operating in complex real-world environments.

This is a rare opportunity to define the long-term technical vision of one of the most ambitious robotics companies in the world. Reporting directly to the executive leadership team, you will shape the research roadmap, build a world-class organization, and guide breakthrough research from concept through real-world deployment.

• Research Leadership: Define and execute the long-term research vision across reinforcement learning, robot learning, simulation, and embodied AI.
• Technical Strategy: Own the research roadmap, balancing long-term innovation with product and engineering priorities.
• Organisation Building: Recruit, hire, mentor and develop a high-performing team of research scientists and engineers, helping establish a world-class research culture.
• Cross-Functional Leadership: Partner closely with engineering, product, robotics and executive leadership to translate research breakthroughs into deployed robotic systems.
• Research Excellence: Drive publication strategy, foster academic collaborations, and maintain the company's position at the forefront of robotics and AI research.
• Scaling Research: Build processes, infrastructure and evaluation frameworks that enable rapid experimentation and research velocity.
• Executive Partnership: Present research strategy and technical direction to founders, executives, investors and external partners.

• Education: PhD in Computer Science, Robotics, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence or a closely related field strongly preferred.
• Leadership
  
  Experience:
  
  5+ years leading cutting-edge AI or robotics research teams, including experience managing senior researchers and technical leaders.
• Research Expertise: Deep knowledge of reinforcement learning, robot learning, imitation learning, foundation models, simulation, or related embodied AI disciplines.
• Technical Excellence: Strong hands-on background with Python and modern ML frameworks such as Py Torch or JAX
  , with the ability to remain technically credible while leading teams.
• Strategic Ownership: Demonstrated experience defining technical strategy, setting multi-year research roadmaps, and aligning research investment with company objectives.
• Hiring & Team Growth: Proven experience leading technical hiring, building research organisations, interviewing senior technical talent, and making hiring decisions that shape the direction of the business.
• Cross-Functional Influence: Experience partnering with executive leadership, engineering and product organisations to prioritise research initiatives and allocate technical resources.
• Research Impact: Strong publication record at leading conferences (CoRL, NeurIPS, ICML, ICRA, IROS, RSS, CVPR) and/or a proven track record delivering state-of-the-art research into production.
• Industry
  
  Experience:
  
  Experience working within high-growth robotics, autonomous systems or frontier AI organisations is highly desirable.
• Base salary $400,000-$700,000+, depending on experience.
• Significant equity package with long-term upside.
• Comprehensive executive-level healthcare and benefits.
• Full relocation assistance to Boston.
• Opportunity to define the future of embodied AI at one of the industry's fastest-growing robotics companies.
• Direct influence on company strategy, research direction and organisational growth.