R&D Director (Humanoid Robotics)

Director of Research and Development - Humanoid Robotics Reno, Nevada, USA | Full-time | Relocation support available

THE OPPORTUNITY

Alexander Daniels Global is retained by a well-funded humanoid robotics company to identify a Director of Research and Development. Backed by a major global technology group, this company is building intelligent autonomous humanoid systems for commercial deployment and is now at the critical transition point from advanced prototype to production-scale delivery.

This is a rare opportunity to own and shape the full R&D function of a humanoid robotics company at a pivotal moment in the industry. The Director of R&D will report directly to the CTO and will lead the technical teams responsible for delivering the company's humanoid platform to market.

THE ROLE

As Director of R&D you will:

• Define and execute the long-term R&D roadmap for humanoid robotics
• Lead and mentor four engineering teams: Hardware/Mechatronics, Software/AI, Locomotion and Data Collection and Management
• Drive innovation across manipulation, loco-manipulation, autonomy and robot hardware
• Oversee development of the full control stack - state estimation, whole-body control, MPC, RL policies
• Coordinate cross-functional collaboration across hardware, firmware and software/AI
• Set technical standards, architecture principles and engineering processes
• Interface with senior leadership and represent the R&D function at executive level

THE CANDIDATE

Essential requirements:

• Master's or PhD in Computer Science, Robotics or a related field
• 5+ years of experience in advanced robotics with legged or humanoid robot systems
• Proven experience leading multi-disciplinary engineering teams
• Deep technical expertise in software architecture, data infrastructure and AI models for humanoid or legged robots
• Advanced experience with model-based approaches (MPC, optimal control, LQR) and learning approaches (RL, imitation learning, large behaviour models) for locomotion and manipulation
• Hands-on experience with real-time systems, ROS/ROS2 or robotic middleware
• Experience across the full humanoid stack from actuators and sensors through to control, planning and AI

Highly desirable:

• Experience delivering humanoid or legged robot systems to production deployment - not purely research
• Multi-disciplinary leadership across hardware, software and AI engineering teams
• Track record of bridging the gap between research capability and commercial deployment

THE COMPANY

The client is a well-funded humanoid robotics company backed by a major global technology group. They are building intelligent autonomous systems designed for real-world commercial deployment at scale. The company is based in Reno, Nevada. Relocation support is available. Compensation is competitive and aligned to the seniority of the role - further details available on application.

APPLY

All applications are treated in the strictest confidence. The client name will not be disclosed at this stage and will only be shared with candidates who are progressed to interview.

Alexander