Senior​/Principal Research Scientist – Core AI Algorithms; Autonomous Systems

Senior / Principal Research Scientist – Core AI Algorithms (Autonomous Systems)

Location
:
Germany (Remote-first within Germany, on-site in Frankfurt every 2–4 weeks)

We are partnering with a global automotive OEM building a core AI research and algorithm team responsible for the foundational intelligence behind next-generation automated driving systems. This role is research-driven and sits upstream of product teams. The focus is on inventing, validating, and transitioning new perception and world-modeling algorithms from research into production-ready systems. The team operates similarly to a big-tech research lab, but with a clear path to real-world deployment.

Depending on background and interest, you may work on topics such as:

• 3D scene understanding and world modeling
• Occupancy, motion forecasting, and dynamic scene reconstruction
• Multi-sensor perception (camera, LiDAR, radar)
• Representation learning for autonomous systems (BEV, implicit / generative 3D, Gaussian models, foundation models)
• Robustness, generalization, and long-tail perception
• Learning under weak, sparse, or noisy supervision
• Bridging offline training with real-world deployment constraints

• Conduct original research in perception and autonomous systems with clear technical ownership
• Design and prototype novel algorithms and learning frameworks
• Publish at or contribute toward top-tier conferences and journals (e.g., CVPR, ICCV, ECCV, NeurIPS, ICRA, IROS)
• Translate research ideas into scalable, production-oriented implementations
• Collaborate with applied ML, systems, and hardware teams to ensure feasibility
• Shape the long-term technical roadmap of the core AI organization
• Mentor junior researchers and engineers where appropriate

• PhD (or equivalent research experience) in Computer Vision, Machine Learning, Robotics, or a related field
• Strong publication record at top-tier conferences or journals
• Experience conducting research within an industrial or applied setting
• Excellent understanding of modern deep learning methods and 3D perception
• Strong programming skills in Python and/or C++
• Ability to work across the full spectrum from theory to implementation

• Research experience in autonomous driving, robotics, or embodied AI
• Work on 3D perception, tracking, SLAM, or world models
• Experience at big-tech research labs, industrial AI labs, or advanced OEM R&D
• Familiarity with real-world constraints such as runtime, memory, and system integration
• Prior collaboration with product or engineering teams

• A research-first role with real influence on production systems
• The opportunity to define core algorithms, not just incremental improvements
• A team culture that values publications, patents, and long-term thinking
• Remote-first working model within Germany, with regular in-person collaboration in Frankfurt
• Competitive compensation aligned with senior / principal research profiles

• Researchers who want their work to ship into real vehicles
• Industry researchers seeking greater technical ownership
• PhD-level candidates who enjoy both publishing and building
• Profiles combining academic depth with practical engineering maturity

Looking forward to seeing your profile!