Embodied AI Systems Integration Engineer / Research Engineer

Job Purpose

As a University of Applied Learning, SIT works closely with industry and research partners in our research pursuits. The primary responsibility of this role is to support the project management, coordination and technical integration of a research project developing embodied AI and robotic systems for aircraft cargo loading operations.

The Research Engineer will coordinate project activities across research teams, industry partners and vendors, while also supporting system integration, testing and deployment of robotic, perception, simulation and AI components.

Key Responsibilities

• Support the PI/Co-PIs in project planning, coordination, tracking of milestones and deliverables, and preparation of project reviews and reports.
• Coordinate activities across research work packages, industry partners, vendors and other stakeholders.
• Manage project schedules, technical documentation, procurement, equipment delivery, testing activities and follow-up actions.
• Support integration of robotic systems including manipulators, mobile robots, perception systems, sensors and control software.
• Support development and testing of embodied AI workflows including teleoperation, simulation, data collection and learning-based robotic policies.
• Coordinate and conduct system integration, experimental testing and validation in laboratory and representative aircraft cargo environments.
• Troubleshoot technical integration issues and work with relevant teams to ensure project deliverables are achieved.
• Prepare technical reports, presentation materials, meeting records and project documentation.
• Support Risk Assessment, Workplace Safety and Health requirements, equipment maintenance and student project supervision.

Job Requirements

• Bachelor’s, Master’s or PhD degree in Robotics, Mechanical/Mechatronics Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science or related fields.
• Experience in project coordination or management of engineering/research projects.
• Good understanding of robotics systems integration, preferably involving ROS/ROS2, robotic manipulators, mobile robots or perception systems.
• Familiarity with robotics simulation platforms such as NVIDIA Isaac Sim, Isaac Lab, Gazebo or MuJoCo.
• Strong organisational, communication and stakeholder-management skills.
• Able to work independently and coordinate multidisciplinary technical teams.
• Experience with embodied AI, teleoperation, robotic manipulation, perception or sim-to-real workflows will be advantageous.

Key Competencies

• Strong project coordination and organisational skills.
• Good systems-level understanding of robotics and embodied AI.
• Strong communication and stakeholder-management skills.
• Hands-on, proactive and able to resolve technical and coordination issues.
• Able to manage multiple workstreams, timelines and deliverables concurrently.

Major Challenges

• Coordinating multiple research teams, industry partners and technical work packages.
• Managing project timelines while resolving cross-system integration dependencies.
• Integrating robotics, perception, simulation and AI components into a reliable end-to-end demonstrator.
• Balancing research development with project delivery, safety and operational requirements.