Senior Manager, Robot Intelligence Data Efficiency

Lab Summary:

The Robot Intelligence Lab at Samsung Research America is a new facility dedicated to advancing the field of robotics through cutting-edge research and development. The lab’s mission is to develop advanced technologies to power intelligent robotic systems capable of manipulation, navigation, and complex reasoning for a variety of high-impact application areas. To achieve this mission, the lab collaborates closely with external entities such as universities, startups, and government labs, as well as with several Samsung Product and Advanced Research labs.  

Position Summary:

Samsung Research America is looking for a Senior Manager who has an established track record in research and project management in robotics to lead a new Data Efficiency group under the Robot Intelligence Lab. Our ideal candidate is excited about working together with researchers, developers, and roboticists to explore novel AI-led techniques towards generalizing robots to perform tasks in the real world. Samsung’s unique advantage in the consumer electronics market and growing focus on AI will provide you with exciting technical challenges and a rewarding career experience. By leveraging Samsung’s vast product ecosystem to deliver novel user experiences, your work will define Samsung’s future in robotics and significantly impact real-world users.

Position Responsibilities:

• Direct and manage state-of-the-art R&D to push boundaries of data efficient learning methods for robotics, including simulation training and evaluation, learning from egocentric video, generative models for simulation testing, real2sim2real, and teleoperation data augmentation
• Lead a team to engineer efficient pipelines for data processing, learning, and model deployment, and support its use by groups within the Robot Intelligence Lab and affiliated Samsung Product and Advanced Research labs
• Lead a team to prepare proof-of-concepts, demo/prototypes, design, and execute pilot studies using available robot platforms
• Manage the operations of the team, such as recruiting, execution of technical milestones, patenting, contracting, purchasing, and facilities
• Generate patents and scientific research papers for top-tier publications

Required Skills:

• PhD. degree in a technology or engineering discipline or equivalent combination of education, training
• 7+ years of work experience after PhD. in the robotics domain
• Deep knowledge and experience in ML training, including data and model management techniques, data augmentation approaches, multi-GPU training, model tuning, and model deployment
• Knowledge of production robot learning pipelines and options for data mixtures, including simulation, teleoperation, egocentric video, and third person video
• Strong understanding of robotics fundamentals, including locomotion, manipulation, sensor inputs, SLAM, ROS, simulation environments (e.g. Nvidia Isaac-SIM), and policy architectures
• Passion for leading teams and providing both formal and informal mentorship
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills, and the ability to engage customers at a business level in addition to a technical level
• Sound knowledge of early-stage technology research programs: understanding user needs, gathering requirements, defining project scope and deliverables, building schedules and executing programs from inception to prototyping
• Stay current with AI/ML and robot learning trends and research; be a thought leader in the Robot Learning area

Special Attributes:

• Thrive in a fast-paced, dynamic environment
• Contribute in a team-oriented environment, while driving your own agenda
• Prioritize multiple tasks in order to consistently meet deadlines
• Creatively solve problems in an analytical environment
• Resilience to overcome hurdles and address failures with alternative paths
• Adapt quickly to new environments, people, technologies and processes
• High caliber presentation skills with the ability to adapt message to the audience and situation
• Generate ideas while understanding and incorporating different points of view
• Must be willing to travel domestically and internationally (10%)