Team Leader - Robotics R&D

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This Position reports to:

At the Industries business line within Robotics, our innovation strategy centers on transforming traditional robots into intelligent systems by embedding AI into software-defined hardware, paving the way for smarter, more autonomous automation. The R&D/Research Team Manager - Robotics AI is responsible for the design and development of advanced perception and scene reasoning systems for autonomous robotic platforms. This role will define the technical strategy, architecture, and cross-functional integration of vision-based AI models, and will guide a team in delivering robust, compliant, and scalable solutions across real-world environments.

• Lead a high-performing team of engineers advancing perception and scene reasoning for robotic systems. Provide mentorship, drive architectural decisions, and foster a culture of collaboration, innovation, and technical excellence.
• Design and deploy end-to-end perception pipelines encompassing model development, large-scale training, and real-world integration. Integrate perception systems with planning, simulation, and real-time AI to enable robust, adaptive agentic behavior. Accelerate development with synthetic data, domain adaptation, and simulation tools.
• Stay on the frontier of CV, ML, and robotics research, scouting emerging technologies and assessing their relevance to organizational value streams and intended use cases. Guide proof-of-concept efforts by identifying promising techniques in behavior prediction, multi-agent coordination, and scene reasoning
• Drive innovation through IP strategy, technical scouting, and partnerships. Manage invention disclosures, guide patenting efforts, mentor interns, and cultivate academic collaborations to translate research into scalable capabilities.
• Ensure alignment with AI governance standards, including compliance with the EU AI Act, data privacy regulations, model transparency, and ethical AI principles. Guide the team in implementing documentation, risk assessments, and audit readiness for AI systems.

The work model for this role is: #LI-Hybrid at our San Jose, CA R&D facility.

• MS or PhD in Computer Vision, Robotics, Machine Learning, or a related technical field or equivalent hands-on experience building and deploying perception systems robotics applications.
• 9+ years' relevant experience and industry knowledge in robotics frameworks, real-time systems and AI integration into robotics
• Proven experience developing perception systems for robotic applications, including segmentation, detection, 3D visions, and scene understanding with RGB-D, LiDAR, and multi-modal sensor inputs; Experienced in deploying perception models in closed-loop autonomous pipelines.
• Hands-on expertise with simulation environments (e.g., Isaac Sim, Blender, Unreal), synthetic data generation, and sim2real adaptation techniques.
• Strong programming skills in C++, Python, and CUDA; experience using ML frameworks (PyTorch or TensorFlow) preferred.
• Solid grasp of robotic autonomy, including integration of perception with planning, control, and behavior modeling in dynamic, unstructured environments; experience with ABB robots is advantageous.
• Strong problem-solving, communication, and cross-functional collaboration skills
• Must be authorized to work in the U.S. and willing to travel within assigned district.

More about us
ABB Robotics & Discrete Automation Business area provides robotics, and machine and factory automation including products, software, solutions and services. Revenues are generated both from direct sales to end users as well as from indirect sales mainly through system integrators and machine builders. www.abb.com/robotics

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ABB is an Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action employer for protected Veterans and Individuals with Disabilities at ABB. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to their- sex (gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation), marital status, citizenship, age, race and ethnicity, inclusive of traits historically associated with race or ethnicity, including but not limited to hair texture and protective hairstyles, color, religious creed, national origin, pregnancy, physical or mental disability, genetic information, protected Veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal and state law. For more information regarding your (EEO) rights as an applicant, please visit the following websites: https://www.eeoc.gov/sites/default/files/2023-06/22-088_EEOC_KnowYourRights6.12ScreenRdr.pdf

As an Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action Employer for Protected Veterans and Individuals with Disabilities, applicants may request to review the plan of a particular ABB facility between the hours of 9:00 A.M. - 5:00 P.M. EST Monday through Friday by contacting an ABB HR Representative at 1-888-694-7762. Protected Veterans and Individuals with Disabilities may request a reasonable accommodation if you are unable or limited in your ability to use or access ABB's career site as a result of your disability. You may request reasonable accommodations by calling an ABB HR Representative at 1-888-694-7762 or by sending an email to US-AskHR@abb.com. Resumes and applications will not be accepted in this manner. MyBenefitsABB.com

While base salary is determined by things such as the successful applicant's qualifications and experience, this position is expected to pay between $98,700 and $183,300 annually and is eligible for a short-term incentive plan/annual bonus.

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