Senior Scientist – Physical AI for Surgical Robotics (Cambridge, MA)

Job Title

Job Description

Senior Scientist – Physical AI for Surgical Robotics (Cambridge, MA)

Join Philips to help shape the next generation of intelligent surgical robotics. In this role, you will work with robotics, software, and clinical experts to develop first-of-a-kind Physical AI solutions that advance autonomy, decision-making, and workflow intelligence for image-guided procedures.

Your role:

• Develop and apply Physical AI solutions for surgical robotics by combining model-based robotics methods with multimodal foundation models, including Vision-Language-Action (VLA) models.
• Design and evaluate AI solutions that combine vision, language, and robot actions for image-guided interventions and surgical robotics applications.
• Develop algorithms and software in an FDA-regulated environment.
• Contribute to system architecture, algorithm design, experimentation, validation strategy, and technical documentation in alignment with medical device regulatory processes.
• Partner closely with system engineering, design, clinical, regulatory, product management, and business marketing teams to translate research concepts into robust, production-oriented solutions.
• Stay informed about the latest advancements in MedTech and AI, and actively contribute to intellectual property creation.

You're the right fit if:

• You’ve acquired 5+ years of experience applying AI or robotics methods to image-guided interventions, surgical robotics, medical imaging, or a closely related technology domain.
• Your skills include:
  • You have experience with robotics foundation models, including Vision-Language-Action models, multimodal AI, large language models, or vision models. Familiarity with reinforcement learning and learning from demonstration is preferred.
  • You have a strong robotics background, including model-based methods for motion planning, control, or robotic autonomy.
  • You are a strong hands-on programmer who writes clean, maintainable code, follows modern software engineering practices, and works effectively within CI/CD processes. You are proficient in Python and modern AI/ML frameworks, with practical experience training, evaluating, and deploying machine learning models. Knowledge of C++ is preferred.
  • You can translate ambitious research goals into milestone-driven technical plans, prototypes, validation evidence, and clear documentation for externally funded programs. You are also comfortable translating the work into practical product development within a regulated medical device environment.
  • You have experience, or strong interest, in safety-bounded autonomy, uncertainty estimation, fail-safe control, or runtime monitoring for AI-enabled robotic systems.
• You have a Master’s or PhD in Robotics, Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, or a related technical field. PhD is preferred.
• You must be able to successfully perform the following minimum Physical, Cognitive and Environmental job requirements with or without accommodation for this position.
• You can independently lead technical work from concept through implementation, define solution design, drive execution, and coordinate effectively across cross-functional teams and academic partners.

How we work together

We believe that we are better together than apart. For our office-based teams, this means working in-person at least 3 days per week. Onsite roles require full-time presence in the company’s facilities. Field roles are most effectively done outside of the company’s main facilities, generally at the customers’ or suppliers’ locations.

This is an office role.

About Philips

We are a health technology company. We built our entire company around the belief that every human matters, and we won't stop until everybody everywhere has access to the quality healthcare that we all deserve. Do the work of your life to help improve the lives of others.

• Learn more about our business.
• Discover our rich and exciting history.
• Learn more about our purpose.
• Learn more about our culture.

Philips Transparency Details

The pay range for this position in Cambridge, MA is $157,000 to $249,000.

The actual base pay offered may vary within the posted ranges depending on multiple factors including job-related knowledge/skills, experience, business needs, geographical location, and internal equity.   

In addition, other compensation, such as an annual incentive bonus, sales commission or long-term incentives may be offered.  Employees are eligible to participate in our comprehensive Philips Total Rewards benefits program, which includes a generous PTO, 401k (up to 7% match), HSA (with company contribution), stock purchase plan, education reimbursement and much more.  Details about our benefits can be found here. 

At Philips, it is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the top end of the range for their role and compensation decisions are dependent upon the facts and circumstances of each case. 

Additional Information

US work authorization is a precondition of employment. The company will not consider candidates who require sponsorship for a work-authorized visa, now or in the future.

Company relocation benefits will not be provided for this position.  For this position, you must reside in or within commuting distance to Cambridge, MA.

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This requisition is expected to stay active for 45 days but may close earlier if a successful candidate is selected or business necessity dictates.  Interested candidates are encouraged to apply as soon as possible to ensure consideration.

Philips is an Equal Employment and Opportunity Employer including Disability/Vets and maintains a drug-free workplace.