Applied AI Scientist, Simulation & Reinforcement Learning

As an Applied AI Scientist, Simulation & Reinforcement Learning, you'll own the simulator behind SDL, our programme building a world-first, reinforcement-learning-driven orchestration framework for people and robots. That framework needs a simulator that is trustworthy enough to develop, tune and validate it before it touches a live warehouse.

You will take over day-to-day ownership of our discrete-event simulation (built on SimPy), make it measurably closer to reality, and use it as the training and evaluation ground for learning-based policies. Simulation comes first; reinforcement learning grows to be the larger part of the role as the simulator matures. You'll compare your simulations against live operational data from some of the world's largest fulfilment sites, and your work will decide what is validated and shipped to fleets of robots in customer sites worldwide.

This is not a notebook role. The simulator you own is the foundation that decides what ships to customer sites worldwide. You will work in a small, collaborative team where research meets production, as part of Applied Data Science (ADS), reporting to Oscar Mendez.

• Location: This is a remote position based in the United Kingdom. Candidates must reside in the UK.

  Right to Work: Candidates must have the legal right to work in the UK. Locus Robotics is unable to provide visa sponsorship for this position, now or in the future.

• →A PhD in Computer Science, AI/ML, Robotics, Mathematics, Physics, Operations Research or a related quantitative field, or MSc and 5+ years of industry experience applying AI/ML or simulation to real-world problems.
• →Hands-on experience building, extending or validating simulators, ideally discrete-event simulation (SimPy or similar).
• →Practical experience with reinforcement learning and training simulation-based agents, including simulation for RL and Gym-style environments.
• →Strong Python and software engineering fundamentals: testing, code review, maintainable and reproducible code.
• →Rigorous experimental and statistical thinking: benchmarking, tuning, ablations, uncertainty.
• →Experience in robotics, logistics, warehouse or other operations-heavy domains.
• →Publications in major AI, ML, robotics or vision venues (e.g. NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, AAAI, RSS, CoRL, ICRA, IROS, CVPR, ICCV, ECCV).
• →Excellent English communication skills, both written and verbal, with the ability to engage diverse audiences effectively and explain uncertain results clearly to technical and non-technical audiences in a multidisciplinary environment.

The expected base salary range for this role is GBP 70,000 - 120,000  based on external market data, plus bonus and equity. Actual offers will depend on factors such as the candidate's experience, education, training, key or critical skills, geographic location, and current market and business conditions.

Additional Information

Locus Robotics is an equal opportunity employer.

Application Fraud Detection Notice: To help maintain a fair and secure hiring process, Locus Robotics may use AI-assisted and other automated tools to detect suspected fraud, misrepresentation, or misuse of the application process. Hiring decisions are not made solely by automated means unless otherwise disclosed where required by law.

Locus Robotics is an equal opportunity employer.

Application Fraud Detection Notice: To help maintain a fair and secure hiring process, Locus Robotics may use AI-assisted and other automated tools to detect suspected fraud, misrepresentation, or misuse of the application process. Hiring decisions are not made solely by automated means unless otherwise disclosed where required by law. 

It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.