Role: Lead, Vision-Language-Action (VLA) / Behaviour Learning
About the Client
Our client is a pioneering robotics startup developing the worlds most advanced, reliable, and commercially scalable humanoid robots. Their mission is to create safe, next-generation robots that integrate seamlessly into daily life and amplify human capacity. Their first robot, HMND 01, is designed for industrial automation with wider applications on the horizon.
The Opportunity
This is a rare chance to join at a senior level and lead the development of Vision-Language-Action (VLA) systems that enable humanoid robots to perceive, understand, and act in complex real-world environments. The role combines cutting-edge AI research with practical deployment in robotics.
What Youll Do
* Define and drive strategy for representation learning, behaviour cloning, and reinforcement learning (RL).
* Lead large-scale training of multi-modal LLM / VLM / VLA systems integrating inputs such as vision, audio, proprioception, LiDAR, and point cloud data.
* Build end-to-end data pipelines: collect sim/tele-op logs, manage versioned data lakes, apply weak supervision, curate datasets, and run evaluation loops.
* Collaborate with MLOps and Data Platform teams to scale distributed training and optimise models for real-time deployment.
* Hire, mentor, and lead a high-calibre team of research scientists and engineers.
What Were Looking For
* 6+ years experience building deep learning systems, including 2+ years in technical team leadership.
* Hands-on expertise with LLM/VLM architecture design, billion-parameter training, and fine-tuning.
* Proven track record applying RL, imitation learning, or behaviour cloning in robotics or autonomous driving.
Nice to Have
* Deployment experience on humanoid or legged robots.
* History of shipping AI models to real robots or vehicles.
* Research or open-source contributions in multi-modal transformers, diffusion control, or world models.
* Familiarity with frameworks such as OpenVLA or Physical Intelligence (p).
Whats on Offer
* Competitive salary plus stock options
* Paid vacation and global travel opportunities (North America & Europe)
* Daily perks: meals, snacks, and team events
* A chance to shape the roadmap of a groundbreaking robotics platform
* Work with world-class researchers and engineers in a dynamic, low-bureaucracy startup culture
How to Apply
If this role sounds like a strong match, please share your CV along with links or files that highlight your most impactful work.
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