Expert Scientist, Dexterous Manipulation in Vancouver

Sanctuary AI is seeking an Expert Scientist, Dexterous Manipulation to join our team in engineering and innovating unique robotic manipulation tasks. As our Expert Scientist, your role will involve choosing the most cutting-edge methods, creating training and data collection systems, overseeing the evaluation of these algorithms in simulated environments, and implementing them on our robots in real-world situations. You will also enjoy the exclusive chance to make a meaningful impact by working with novel haptic and proprioceptive sensing techniques, thanks to our in-house robot with dexterous hands.

Success Criteria

• Create, develop, and enhance cutting-edge Reinforcement Learning (RL) and Imitation Learning (IL) algorithms and evaluate their performance in practical applications.
• Stay current with the latest developments in RL/IL techniques and their application in robotics.
• Identify, communicate, and lead research initiatives that show promise to the wider ML team.
• Discover strategies for enhancing current RL/IL learning processes, considering key performance metrics like sample efficiency, speed, computational resources, and scalability.
• Devising RL/IL training and data collection pipelines to expedite implementation on physical robots.
• Collaborate within a diverse team to devise innovative algorithms and investigate the root causes of errors in existing implementations.

Your Experience

• Ph.D. in Machine Learning, Computer Science, Applied Mathematics, or equivalent practical background in Reinforcement Learning and/or Imitation Learning.
• 5+ years of hands-on experience implementing and deploying robotic manipulation tasks, both in simulation and on physical robots.
• 5+ years of practical experience applying various Reinforcement Learning and/or Imitation Learning methods, with focus on robotics in the real world.
• 4+ years experience in developing and optimizing large-batch parallel simulations for Reinforcement Learning.
• Proven expertise in continual learning, employing adaptive model training to improve long-term performance and accuracy.
• Proven expertise in sim-to-real transfer.
• Experience in transitioning Machine Learning research and trained models into real-world production.
• Active involvement in integrating Machine Learning models into a robotics platform.
• A track record of publishing research in esteemed AI conferences such as ICRA, IROS and CORLS.

Skills

• Development with Python 3.8 or later.
• Working knowledge of PyTorch and/or TensorFlow.
• Familiarity with ROS2.
• Expertise in use of Reinforcement Learning principles and their application.
• Experience with Atlassian tools; Jira, Confluence, or equivalent i.e. GitLab.

Traits

• Above all else, a consistently positive attitude and a willingness to do whatever it takes to create robust solutions to complex problems.
• Strong leadership skills in organizing R&D work for ML projects.
• Eager to take on new challenges with tenacity and positivity.
• Patience, persistence, and attention to detail when resolving performance issues.
• Enthusiasm for bringing human-like intelligence to machines.
• Ability to drive development of new functionalities from concept to production.
• Ability to multitask and prioritize in a fast paced environment.

Compensation:

At Sanctuary AI, we provide above average total compensation that includes three components: salary, equity, and benefits. Our goal is to ensure fairness in pay and we strive to make the overall package highly competitive with current market rates.

Benefits

• Medical Insurance
• Dental
• Vision
• Hearing Aids
• Life Insurance and AD&D
• Prescriptions
• Paramedicals
• Hospital
• Travel
• $500 per calendar year Healthcare Spending Account
• Unique complimentary beverages and snacks at our head office

Sanctuary AI is an equal opportunity employer; employment with Sanctuary AI is governed based on skills, competence, and qualifications and will not be influenced in any way by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability, or any other legally protected status.