Hedra
Research Scientist
$200K–$325K
San Francisco · Full-time · Posted Apr 15, 2026
- Education
- PhD in Machine Learning, Computer Science, Robotics, or a related field
About the job
Leads research on world models, physical AI, and generative modeling for embodied systems, advancing models from research toward real-world applications and publication.
What you'll do
- Define research directions and design architectures, training objectives, and evaluation frameworks for VLMs, VLAs, and world models.
- Lead research projects through publication, mentor research engineers, and collaborate with industrial partners and applied teams.
- Track relevant research and contribute to Hedra’s research culture and external scientific reputation.
What they ask for
- PhD in Machine Learning, Computer Science, Robotics, or a related field, with publications at top ML or robotics venues.
- Deep expertise in generative modeling, world models, or vision-language(-action) models.
- Strong publication record at NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, CVPR, CoRL, or equivalent venues.
- Experience with large-scale model training and modern deep learning infrastructure; ability to drive research independently from ideation through publication.
Nice to have
- Background in embodied AI, robotic manipulation, or sim-to-real transfer.
- Experience with RLHF, DPO, or preference optimization for model alignment.
Pay
$200K – $325K (base salary)
Tools
VLMs, VLAs, RLHF, DPO
AI focus
Research in action-conditioned world models, physical AI, generative modeling for embodied systems, and model alignment.
Model-written summary · the original posting is authoritative