Director, Applied ML for Robotics

Director, Applied ML for Robotics 

Location: Mountain View, CA

About the Team:

At Google DeepMind, our mission is to "solve intelligence" for the benefit of all. The Applied Robotics team is at the forefront of this effort, focusing on one of the most challenging and exciting frontiers in AI: grounding intelligence in the physical world. We work to bridge our most advanced research in large-scale foundation models with real-world robotic applications, aiming to create general-purpose robots that can learn to perform a wide variety of useful tasks safely and efficiently.

About the Role:

As an Applied Machine Learning Lead for Robotics, you will be a pivotal technical leader guiding the translation of cutting-edge AI into tangible, physical robotics applications. We are seeking a hands-on leader to steer a team of exceptional engineers in deploying our leading foundation models onto robotic platforms with our partners. Your work will involve solving complex problems at the intersection of large-scale model inference, real-time control, computer vision, physical interaction, and ecosystem development.

This is an opportunity to define the technical strategy for some of the most ambitious embodied AI projects in the world. You will define the technical vision and multi-year strategy for deploying Google's foundation models onto physical robots. You will be responsible for pioneering a new class of general-purpose robotic capabilities, leading the entire lifecycle of translating research incubation to scaled, real-world application.

Responsibilities:

• Lead the technical design, architecture, and implementation of robotic systems and embodied AI applications powered by large-scale foundation models.
• Partner closely with research scientists to adapt and apply the latest AI breakthroughs in areas like vision-language models, reinforcement learning, and generative modeling to robotics.
• Provide deep technical mentorship and guidance to a team of machine learning and robotics engineers, fostering a culture of rapid innovation and rigorous experimentation.
• You will help define the technical vision and multi-year strategy for deploying Google's foundation models onto physical robots. You will be responsible for pioneering a new class of general-purpose robotic capabilities, leading the entire lifecycle from research incubation to scaled, real-world application.
• You will drive the evolution of a dynamic ecosystem where hardware and software build upon each other, propelled by powerful collaborations and partnerships.
• Architect and build robust, scalable, and real-time ML pipelines that connect large-scale models to robotic sensors and actuators.
• Collaborate with hardware engineers, product managers, and other stakeholders across Google to deliver impactful and scalable robotic solutions.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Graduate degree in Computer Science, Robotics, a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience.
• 15 years of professional software development experience, with at least 5 years in a technical leadership role overseeing machine learning or robotics projects.
• Hands-on experience building and deploying machine learning models in production environments.
• Proficiency in Python and deep knowledge of ML frameworks such as TensorFlow, PyTorch, or JAX.

Preferred Qualifications:

• PhD in Robotics, Machine Learning, or a related field.
• Proven track record of leading the development and deployment of complex robotic systems or AI applications involving physical interaction.
• Deep expertise in one or more of the following robotics areas: deep learning, control theory, motion planning, perception, manipulation, or navigation.
• Demonstrated experience in developing and scaling software ecosystems to enable and support innovative hardware platforms.
• Experience applying large-scale models (e.g., foundation models, transformers, diffusion models) to robotics or problems involving real-world sensor data.
• Experience with simulation environments (e.g., Isaac Sim, MuJoCo, Drake) and sim-to-real transfer techniques.
• A strong publication record in top-tier robotics or machine learning conferences (e.g., CoRL, RSS, ICRA, NeurIPS, ICML).
• Excellent communication skills and a passion for mentoring and developing the careers of other engineers.
• Demonstrated experience building, scaling, and leading world-class machine learning or robotics engineering teams in a fast-paced, research-driven environment.

The US base salary range for this full-time position is between $294,000 - $414,000 + bonus + equity + benefits. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for your targeted location during the hiring process.

At Google DeepMind, we value diversity of experience, knowledge, backgrounds and perspectives and harness these qualities to create extraordinary impact. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of sex, race, religion or belief, ethnic or national origin, disability, age, citizenship, marital, domestic or civil partnership status, sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy, or related condition (including breastfeeding) or any other basis as protected by applicable law. If you have a disability or additional need that requires accommodation, please do not hesitate to let us know.