Associate Director of Autonomous Science
Listed on 2026-08-22
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Research/Development
Research Scientist, Data Scientist, AI Business & Operations, Robotics
Associate Director of Autonomous Science Please see Special Instructions for more details.
Posting Information
Posting Number
Posting Number PG194818EP
Internal Recruitment
Internal Recruitment No
Working Title
Working Title Associate Director of Autonomous Science
Anticipated Hiring Range
Anticipated Hiring Range Commensurate with education and experience ($110,000 - $125,000)
Work Schedule
Work Schedule Monday - Friday, 8am - 5pm (additional work outside of standard hours may be required due to business needs)
Job Location
Department
Department University Interdisciplinary Programs
About the Department
The Self-driving Platforms for Expedited Experimental co-Design ( SPEED ) Programmable Cloud Laboratory is a $20 million National Science Foundation-funded national research infrastructure led by NC State University. Located in Woodson Hall, SPEED will provide academic, government, and industry researchers with remote access to integrated self-driving laboratories for accelerated discovery and development of advanced functional materials and molecules.
SPEED brings together expertise in laboratory automation, artificial intelligence, experimental science, data engineering, cybersecurity, and workforce development. The facility will operate a suite of autonomous experimental platforms through a shared digital infrastructure, enabling users to design, execute, monitor, and analyze experiments remotely. SPEED is supported by collaborators at NC State, UNC–Chapel Hill, MIT , industry partners, and an initial national network of academic users.
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The Associate Director of Autonomous Science will contribute to advancement of the scientific and engineering vision for SPEED’s autonomous laboratories, helping transform how experiments are designed, executed, analyzed, and optimized. This is a highly collaborative leadership role at the intersection of science, robotics, artificial intelligence, and advanced laboratory automation.
The Associate Director will coordinate the translation of complex scientific questions into closed-loop autonomous experiments that combine AI-driven planning, robotic experimentation, multimodal characterization, data analysis, and scientific reasoning. Working with SPEED scientists, engineers, researchers, and external users, the position will shape new capabilities, guide high-impact research programs, and ensure that autonomous experiments deliver rigorous, reproducible, and scientifically meaningful results.
Primary Responsibilities:
Autonomous Science and Engineering Leadership
- Lead design and operation of end-to-end autonomous experimentation workflows across SPEED’s robotic laboratories.
- Translate scientific goals into closed-loop systems spanning experimental design, robotic execution, measurement, analysis, interpretation, and AI-guided experiment selection.
- Define requirements for integrating synthesis, processing, characterization, optimization, and autonomous decision-making.
- Advance Bayesian optimization, active learning, machine learning, scientific models, genetic algorithms, and AI agents in physical laboratory systems.
- Establish standards for controls, validation, uncertainty quantification, reproducibility, metadata, and experimental provenance.
- Evaluate AI-generated recommendations for scientific validity, feasibility, safety, and alignment with research objectives.
- Drive improvements in SPEED’s reliability, throughput, autonomy, and scientific capabilities.
Scientific Program and User Engagement
- Serve as scientific…
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