Staff AIML Architect, Embodied AI

Primary Function of Position

We are building advanced augmented dexterity capabilities for next-generation robotic platforms. As a Staff AI/ML Architect you will own the end-to-end architecture of our applied-AI system: a hierarchical multimodal stack in which a high-level model interprets sensory observations and produces structured intent and a low-level policy turns that intent into precise safe real-time control. You will set the technical direction the rest of the AI/ML team builds against define the interfaces between perception reasoning and control and make the architecture decisions that let us move safely from offline research to real-time deployment.

Working within Intuitives Future Forward research organization you will identify build and finetune AI/ML models and algorithms and define the architecture that enables us to deliver safe and performant embodied AI systems. This role calls for someone who is equally comfortable getting hands-on with models and data and designing systems that scale.

Roles and Responsibilities

• Define and own the end-to-end architecture for a hierarchical perception reasoning and control AI system.
• Specify the contracts between layers: model outputs policy interfaces timing budgets and safety hooks and keep them stable as components are swapped and upgraded.
• Make the build and modular-vs-monolithic calls evaluate in-house approaches against the state of the art and set the target architecture.
• Establish the path from offline evaluation on recorded data to real-time integration including the continuous-improvement (human-in-the-loop) data loop.
• Partner across research engineering data and product teams mentor senior scientists/engineers and raise the engineering bar across the effort.
• Partner with AI/ML researchers robotics data engineers and other stakeholders to deliver a modular architecture that enables rapid prototyping and learning while working toward a product solution.

Qualifications :

Minimum Qualifications

• MS or PhD in CS EE Robotics or a related field with 10 years building AI/ML models and algorithms for autonomous-systems software with demonstrated ownership of an end-to-end AI/ML system architecture taken to production or to a rigorous prototype.
• Deep experience with hierarchical modular AI/ML or robot-learning stacks including high-level reasoning paired with low-level control policies.
• Strong grasp of real-time and safety-critical ML: latency budgets failure modes fallback/abort behavior and interface/contract design across components.
• Hands-on expertise with modern deep learning and multimodal vision-language LLM-based architectures including vision foundation models (VFM) vision-action (VA) and vision-language-action (VLA) models.
• Fluency in one of PyTorch TensorFlow JAX and in Python and C is required.
• Working knowledge of world-model and self-supervised predictive architectures (e.g. JEPA-style models MAE DINO) and how learned world models inform perception-and-control design.
• Solid foundations in linear algebra probability and optimization enough to reason about and debug model behavior from first principles.
• Proven cross-functional technical leadership (able to align research engineering and product stakeholders around an architecture).

Preferred Qualifications

• Background in healthcare medical devices surgical robotics or other regulated technical domains.
• Foundation-model adaptation and fine-tuning for embodied robotics tasks.
• Experience delivering AI/ML in a real-time safety-critical domain.
• Imitation learning DAgger and/or reinforcement learning at system scale.
• Sim-to-real workflows and experience with robotics simulators (e.g. NVIDIA Isaac Sim).
• Regulatory-aware AI/ML development for regulated safety-critical industries.
• Triton kernel and/or CUDA development experiences
• Publications or recognized contributions at venues such as CVPR NeurIPS CoRL RSS or ICRA.
• Awareness of data governance in regulated environments (HIPAA FDA).

Additional Information

• Travel: Minimal
• Ways of Working: Onsite 5 days per week
• Reports to: Govind Payyavula Senior Managing Principal Future Forward Research
• Compensation: Competitive salary annual bonus equity and comprehensive benefits

Additional Information :

Due to the nature of our business and the role please note that Intuitive and/or your customer(s) may require that you show current proof of vaccination against certain diseases including COVID-19.  Details can vary by role.

Intuitive is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We provide equal employment opportunities to all qualified applicants and employees and prohibit discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race sex pregnancy sexual orientation gender identity national origin color age religion protected veteran or disability status genetic information or any other status protected under federal state or local applicable laws.

Mandatory Notices

U.S. Export Controls Disclaimer:  In accordance with the U.S. Export Administration Regulations (15 CFR 743.13(b)) some roles at Intuitive Surgical may be subject to U.S. export controls for prospective employeeswho are nationals from countries currently on embargo or sanctions status.

Certain information you provide as part of the application will be used for purposes of determining whether Intuitive Surgical will need to (i) obtain an export license from the U.S. Government on your behalf (note: the governments licensing process can take 3 to 6 months) or (ii) implement a Technology Control Plan (TCP) (note: typically adds 2 weeks to the hiring process).  

For any Intuitive role subject to export controls final offers are contingent upon obtaining an approved export license and/or an executed TCP prior to the prospective employeesstart date which may or may not be flexible and within a timeframe that does not unreasonably impede the hiring need. If applicable candidates will be notified and instructed on any requirements for these purposes. 

We will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records in accordance with fair chance laws.

Preference will be given to qualified candidates who do not reside or plan to reside in Alabama Arkansas Delaware Florida Indiana Iowa Louisiana Maryland Mississippi Missouri Oklahoma Pennsylvania South Carolina or Tennessee.

This position may be filled at a different job level than listed here depending on
business need and/or on the selected candidates experience knowledge and skills.
Compensation will be based primarily on the job level at which the role is filled and the
candidates qualifications consistent with applicable law.

We provide market-competitive compensation packages inclusive of base pay incentives benefits and equity. It would not be typical for someone to be hired at the top end of range for the role as actual pay will be determined based on several factors including experience skills and qualifications. The target compensation ranges are listed.

Remote Work :

No

Employment Type :

Full-time