Summary
MBZUAI’s Physical AI Initiative is seeking a Principal Robotics Engineer to lead its Systems Laboratory and a multidisciplinary engineering team. The role covers the design, integration, deployment, and operation of robotic and embodied AI systems, as well as research translation, project delivery, laboratory operations, and team development. Applicants need a master’s degree in a related field and at least 10 years of relevant experience; a PhD is preferred. The position is in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
The posting
As published on mbzuai.ac.ae. Pulled from the employer's site and shown as they wrote it.
The Physical AI Initiative at Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) is seeking a highly accomplished Principal Robotics Engineer to lead the design, development, deployment, and operation of advanced robotic and embodied AI systems at our Physical AI Initiative Systems Laboratory. This role combines deep technical expertise with people leadership, enabling the successful candidate to drive research translation, platform development, and engineering excellence across a diverse portfolio of robotics initiatives.
The Principal Robotics Engineer will lead a multidisciplinary team of approximately 20 robotics, AI, software, hardware, and systems engineers while working closely with Principal Investigators (PIs – i.e. Professors and other Faculty members), researchers, students and external collaborators. The role focuses on transforming cutting-edge research into robust, scalable, real-world robotic systems across domains including humanoid robotics, autonomous systems, healthcare, manufacturing, agriculture, aerospace, and emerging intelligent agents.
Key Responsibilities
Technical Leadership & Vision
- Define and execute the technical vision, strategy, and roadmap for the Physical AI Systems Laboratory.
- Lead the architecture, design, development, integration, and deployment of advanced robotic and embodied AI systems.
- Drive the adoption of engineering best practices, technical standards, software quality processes, and scalable development methodologies.
- Evaluate emerging technologies and establish innovation roadmaps aligned with laboratory and institutional objectives.
- Ensure successful translation of research outputs into deployable robotic platforms and demonstrators.
Robotics & Embodied AI Systems Development
- Lead the design and integration of robotic systems including sensing, perception, planning, control, manipulation, autonomy, and human-robot interaction capabilities.
- Oversee the development of humanoid robots, mobile robotic platforms, collaborative robots, UAVs, service robots, and autonomous systems.
- Direct the development of simulation environments and digital twins for training, validation, reinforcement learning, and system testing.
- Ensure successful deployment, commissioning, maintenance, and optimization of robotic systems across laboratory and field environments. Lead system-level integration across mechanical, electrical, controls, embedded software, AI, and cloud infrastructure domains.
AI, Planning & Control Systems
- Guide the development of embodied AI capabilities including policy learning, autonomous decision-making, adaptive planning, and intelligent agent architectures.
- Lead development of manipulation, grasp planning, motion planning, and task execution systems.
- Oversee implementation of advanced control frameworks, force control systems, impedance and admittance control, and human-inspired control architectures.
- Support the integration of foundation models, multimodal AI capabilities, and agentic systems into robotic platforms.
- Ensure robust safety, reliability, and real-time performance of deployed systems.
Research Collaboration & Innovation
- Partner with faculty, researchers, and other engineers to align engineering activities with strategic research priorities.
- Support the development of grant proposals, research programs, technical publications, patents, and technology transfer initiatives.
- Foster collaboration between academic researchers and engineering teams to accelerate innovation and impact.
- Engage with external partners, government entities, industry collaborators, and technology providers.
Engineering Leadership & People Management
- Lead, mentor, and develop a multidisciplinary engineering organization of 15-20 engineers.
- Establish team goals, performance objectives, career development plans, and succession strategies.
- Conduct performance reviews, coaching sessions, and technical mentoring programs.
- Recruit, develop, and retain high-performing engineering talent.
- Foster a culture of innovation, accountability, collaboration, psychological safety, and continuous improvement.
- Manage workload prioritization, resource allocation, and technical staffing to maximize team effectiveness.
- Resolve technical and organizational challenges while promoting cross-functional collaboration.
Program & Project Leadership
- Oversee multiple concurrent engineering and research programs from concept through deployment.
- Develop and manage technical roadmaps, project plans, budgets, risks, dependencies, and resource forecasts.
- Establish measurable milestones and ensure delivery against timelines and strategic objectives.
- Provide regular status updates, executive briefings, and performance reporting to leadership.
Infrastructure, Operations & Compliance
- Ensure availability, reliability, and continuous improvement of robotic laboratories, testing platforms, and supporting infrastructure.
- Establish maintenance, calibration, and lifecycle management strategies for robotics equipment.
- Lead safety reviews, risk assessments, and compliance activities.
- Ensure adherence to institutional policies, engineering standards, and regulatory requirements.
Academic Qualifications Required
- Masters in Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Control Systems, Aerospace Engineering, Mechatronics, or a closely related field.
- PhD will be preferred
Professional Experience Required
Essential:
- 10+ years of progressive experience in robotics, embodied AI, autonomous systems, or related engineering disciplines.
- Demonstrated experience leading complex robotics programs from concept to deployment.
- Experience managing and developing engineering teams of approximately 10-15 engineers.
- Strong expertise in robotic systems design, integration, deployment, testing, and maintenance.
- Deep knowledge of ROS/ROS2, robotic control systems, perception systems, simulation environments, and autonomous platforms.
- Experience with C++, Python, AI/ML frameworks, distributed computing environments, and cloud-enabled robotics infrastructure.
- Hands-on experience with robotic platforms including humanoid robots, mobile robots, collaborative robots, autonomous vehicles, or UAVs.
- Experience in embedded systems, sensors, actuators, motion control, and real-time systems.
- Proven ability to manage budgets, projects, vendors, and cross-functional stakeholder relationships.
Preferred:
- Experience working with academics as well as researchers or experience working within a research organization in a large tech-focused entity.
- Experience leading large-scale research engineering programs in academia, research institutes, or advanced technology organizations.
- Track record of research commercialization, technology transfer, or productization.
- Experience developing embodied AI, agentic AI, multimodal AI, or foundation model-enabled robotic systems.
- Experience securing research funding, managing industry partnerships, or contributing to major grant programs.
- Professional certifications in robotics, systems engineering, project management, or automation disciplines.