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Director Robotics Research Jobs in Washington (NOW HIRING)

Quidient

SLAM Engineer

Columbia, MD · On-site

$175K - $230K/yr

Direct experience with GPU programming (Metal shaders, CUDA kernels, or equivalent) is a strong ... Research Integration & Evaluation * Collaborate with the team's deep learning expertise to evaluate ...

Quidient

SLAM Engineer

Columbia, MD · On-site

$175K - $230K/yr

Direct experience with GPU programming (Metal shaders, CUDA kernels, or equivalent) is a strong ... Research Integration & Evaluation * Collaborate with the team's deep learning expertise to evaluate ...

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Director Robotics Research information

What does a director of robotics research do?

A Director of Robotics Research leads and oversees research initiatives focused on developing innovative robotics technologies. They manage teams of scientists and engineers, set research priorities, and collaborate with other departments to align robotics projects with organizational goals. Their role often includes securing funding, publishing research findings, and ensuring that projects meet both technical and commercial objectives. Additionally, they stay up-to-date with advancements in robotics to guide strategic decision-making and maintain the organization’s competitive edge.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a director of robotics research?

To thrive as a Director of Robotics Research, you need an advanced degree (often a Ph.D.) in robotics, computer science, or a related field, along with deep expertise in robotics algorithms, AI, and research methodology. Familiarity with programming languages (like Python and C++), robotics simulation tools, and experience with research publication and grant management are essential. Visionary leadership, effective communication, and the ability to mentor and inspire interdisciplinary teams set top candidates apart. These competencies are crucial for driving innovative research, securing funding, and translating breakthroughs into real-world robotic solutions.

How does a director of robotics research typically collaborate with cross-functional teams to drive innovation?

A Director of Robotics Research often works closely with engineers, data scientists, product managers, and external partners to align research objectives with organizational goals. This collaboration involves regular meetings to review project milestones, integrating feedback from various departments, and ensuring research outcomes are feasible for production. Effective communication and leadership are essential, as the director must translate complex research findings into actionable plans for diverse teams. Facilitating interdisciplinary collaboration not only accelerates innovation but also helps in identifying real-world applications for emerging robotics technologies.

What are the most commonly searched types of Robotics Research jobs in Washington?

The most popular types of Robotics Research jobs in Washington are:

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For Director Robotics Research jobs in Washington, the most frequently searched job titles are:

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Director Robotics Research jobs near you

Director, Enterprise Research & Automation Services

George Mason University

Fairfax, VA • On-site

$182K/yr

Full-time

Posted 4 days ago

George Mason University rating

8.3

Company rating: 8.3 out of 10

Based on 19 frontline employees who took The Breakroom Quiz

126th of 620 rated colleges and universities

Job description

Department: Information Technology Services
Classification: Administrative Faculty
Job Category: Administrative or Professional Faculty
Job Type: Full-Time
Work Schedule: Full-time (1.0 FTE, 40 hrs/wk)
Location: Fairfax, VA
Workplace Type: On Site Required
Sponsorship Eligibility: Not eligible for visa sponsorship
Salary: Up to $182,000 annually; commensurate with education and experience
Criminal Background Check: Yes
About the Department:
The Chief Technology Officer (CTO) department drives the university's digital modernization, technical strategy, and institutional agility through four foundational pillars: Enterprise Infrastructure, Applications, Architecture, and Research. Operating centrally within Information Technology Services (ITS), the Research pillar identifies, prototypes, evaluates, and scales cutting-edge computing environments, automated workflows, and advanced intelligence applications. The unit focuses on shifting manual paradigms into optimized digital patterns, deploying high-performance systems, and ensuring emerging platforms are safely and effectively integrated into the fabric of the university to support institutional strategy.
About the Position:
The Director, Enterprise Research & Automation Services provides strategic and technical leadership over the university's institutional research and automation systems, advanced research pipelines, and enterprise automation strategies. This position oversees the engineering, optimization, and scaling of the Mason Research, Intelligence, Data, and Automation Systems platform, as well as enterprise-wide workflow automation initiatives. The Director manages a dedicated team of professional staff and student developers to run rapid-prototyping initiatives, eliminate manual operational friction, and support advanced research computing-all while operating in strict compliance with cybersecurity, data privacy, and technology governance frameworks established by the Chief Information Officer's (CIO's) office.
Responsibilities:
Advanced Research & Automation Platform Engineering Leadership:
  • Serve as the focal point for Central Research Services to the Office of Research and Compute, and the Distributed GMU Research community-supporting GMU Research Council and stakeholder forums/working groups, etc.;
  • Direct the architectural scaling, maintenance, and technical execution of the Mason Research, Intelligence, Data, and Automation Systems platform;
  • Oversee the aggregation and indexing of complex institutional datasets into unified information pipelines, enabling real-time predictive analytics and executive visibility dashboards;
  • Enforce rigid data synchronization protocols across the platform to ensure a single source of truth (SSOT) and eliminate data fragmentation across administrative systems; and
  • Accelerate the systemic elimination of manual operational overhead across all academic, research, and administrative units through active partnership and exploration engagements of the George Mason University business and research needs.

Enterprise Automation Strategy & Process Optimization:
  • Lead the institutional automation lifecycle by identifying, designing, and deploying modern robotic process automation (RPA), intelligent workflows, functional apps, and system orchestration models across academic and operational units, intentionally converting slow, legacy department habits into high-velocity digital workflows while maintaining a centralized automation registry to minimize institutional technical debt;
  • Partner with university stakeholders to systematically review high-friction, manual workflows and transition them into high-velocity, automated digital processes;
  • Manage the automation registry to maximize the reuse of software agents and minimize technical debt;
  • Define, track, and document the financial and operational return on investment (ROI) for all research and automation deployments; and
  • Build and maintain executive observability dashboards that quantify exact administrative hours reclaimed, error rates eliminated, and compute economics optimized, providing direct visibility to ITS executive leadership.

Research Technology Innovation & Prototyping Pipeline:
  • Manage the dedicated Research, AI, and advanced computing lane in coordination with academic units and university research stakeholders;
  • Establish a structured methodology for evaluating emerging technologies, high-performance computing (HPC) workflows, and advanced digital capabilities;
  • Orchestrate a "fail small, learn big" pipeline using rapid prototyping and proofs-of-concept, directly utilizing student internship pipeline to build and test initial capabilities; and
  • Coordinate computational research support, HPC workflows, RAG models over licensed corpora, and open-science tools to secure and accelerate the university's R1 research preeminence.

Cross-Functional Integration & Compliance Operations:
  • Collaborate daily with the Applications, Architecture, and Enterprise Infrastructure pillars within the CTO department to ensure all automation and intelligence platforms scale smoothly onto core infrastructure networks, ensuring seamless platform convergence, and eliminating parallel development silos;
  • Maintain strict operational alignment with the CIO's area, ensuring that all deployed research tools, automated bots, and MIDAS projects fully comply with established university security policies, data privacy protocols (e.g., FERPA), and institutional risk frameworks; and
  • Ensure that every automated script, data ingestion pathway, software bot, and intelligence engine operates in strict compliance with the cybersecurity policies, data privacy baselines (including FERPA), and overarching governance frameworks established by the CIO's office.

Required Qualifications:
  • Bachelor's degree in related field, or equivalent combination of education and experience;
  • Significant experience (typically 6-9 years) of progressive technical leadership in automation engineering, systems development, data intelligence, or research computing environments;
  • Knowledge of enterprise automation frameworks, robotic process automation (RPA) tools, and machine learning/intelligence platform components;
  • Knowledge of advanced data integration architectures, cloud-hybrid platforms, and API-driven data pipelining methods;
  • Skill in managing complex technology portfolios, directing rapid prototyping operations, and leading full-lifecycle software or systems automation projects;
  • Leadership skills-including the ability to supervise technical engineering staff, assigning sprints, conducting code reviews, and evaluating production performance metrics;
  • Ability to translate ambiguous, high-friction administrative and academic processes into clear, structured, and logical automated workflows; and
  • Ability to work effectively across distinct IT divisions-including infrastructure, systems engineering, and architecture teams-to align deployment configurations.

Preferred Qualifications:
  • Master's degree in related field;
  • Professional certifications in Automation Engineering, Agile/Scrum Project Management (e.g., PMP, PMI-ACP), or Enterprise Architecture are highly desirable. CRA (Certified Research Administrator), CDPSE (Certified Data Privacy Solutions Engineer), AWS Certified Solutions Architect;
  • Extensive experience (typically 10+ years) leading enterprise-level automation strategies, managing large-scale intelligence architectures, and supervising cross-functional software or infrastructure development teams within a complex, research-intensive enterprise;
  • Knowledge of R1 research institution technology demands, academic computing environments, and specialized research datasets;
  • Knowledge of enterprise data governance strategies, security baseline standards, and higher education privacy regulations (such as FERPA);
  • Skill in utilizing TeamDynamix or similar enterprise ITSM platforms to track, monitor, and prioritize technical automation queues; and
  • Ability to coach and mentor early-career developers and student interns within a fast-paced, high-focus performance culture.

Instructions to Applicants:
For full consideration, applicants must apply for the Director, Enterprise Research & Automation Services at https://jobs.gmu.edu/. Complete and submit the online application to include three professional references with contact information, and provide a cover letter and CV for review.
Posting Open Date: August 19, 2026
Posting Close Date: September 2, 2026
Open Until Filled: No
Mason Ad Statement
George Mason University is a nationally ranked R1 research university committed to creating a more just, free, and prosperous world. With 40,000 enrolled students, George Mason is the largest and most diverse public research university in Virginia, offering degree programs at the master's, doctoral, and professional level, along with certificates and credentials.
George Mason fosters an All Together Different environment for students, faculty, and staff, driven by our core beliefs. We believe in inclusivity over exclusivity; we believe in advancing our mission by being willing to take risks, not avoiding them; and we believe our best work is possible when we apply our diversity of origin, identity, circumstance, and thought.
Equity Statement
George Mason University is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer, committed to promoting inclusion and equity in its community. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability or veteran status, or any characteristic protected by law.
Campus Safety Information
Mason's Annual Security and Fire Safety Report is available at http://police.gmu.edu/annual-security-report/

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