Physical AI Distributed Systems Researcher

The smart-planet promise is everywhere—from Robotaxi fleets and digital operating rooms to smart farms and dark factories—and Real-Time Innovations (RTI) is the core nervous system making it a reality. As the creators of the world’s number one software framework for smart machines and real-time systems, our software runs the continent’s largest power plants, manages NASA’s launch control, underlies Canada’s air traffic control, and connects perception to control in over 300 autonomous vehicle designs. We are a mid-sized company with an outsized impact, leading the transition to Physical AI.

To usher in this new intelligent world, we are building an edge-to-cloud physical data streaming platform capable of low-level machine control, AI-driven smart operation, modern agentic coding, and seamless cloud orchestration. To help drive this mission, we are looking for a Physical AI Distributed Systems Researcher to tackle the industry's toughest challenges, including enabling AI coding for distributed systems, delivering determinism and timing control, designing software-defined architectures, and ensuring system-wide coherence. This role is an unparalleled opportunity to join our truly unique research team.

RTI Research is highly regarded; our excellent record helps us win millions of dollars in funding per year. Unlike academia or other corporate research departments, RTI's team works closely with product development and field teams delivering real-world applications. Like other top teams, we are creative, we take risks, we drive innovation, and we communicate openly.

Unlike other top teams, our product and customers drive our results into real application. If you like to take creative risks and drive innovation, knowing your cutting-edge work will actively power the future of smart distributed systems, this role is for you. ✨

What You’Ll Do

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Responsibilities

You will work with a team of experts researching emerging technologies, coming up with novel solutions for the problems posed by our research sponsors, exploring new concepts for products, prototyping ideas, and leading small teams to develop and to enhance advanced features related to RTI’s secure real-time connectivity platform, Connext. This is an individual contributor role. Duties will include: Innovate new solutions that will form the foundation of secure, adaptable, and fast distributed systems Work with the business-development team to define research areas of interest and define interesting research proposal topics Compose research proposals and report progress to research sponsors Execute and lead research contracts to push our technology forward Serve as Principal Investigator and/or Staff Member on externally-funded research contracts Actively interface with research project sponsors, customers, research partners, and prospects Develop expertise in emerging technology and share your insights across RTI Communicate technical innovations through papers and presentations Support the transition of promising technical innovations to product including customer trials, coordinating with product management, and working closely with the engineering team to design, develop, test and support this transition 🎯

What We’Re Looking For

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Requirements

Ph.D. degree in Computer Science, Robotics, Electrical Engineering or related field.

Appropriate research expertise includes electromechanical, intelligent or autonomous systems, distributed systems, physical agentic AI, or computer networking. An experimental thesis or real-world experience with physical applications or distributed systems research. Excellent written communications skills, and evidence of research publications.

Experience writing and winning proposals, and research project management. Solid programming skills and experience with AI-assisted software development. Ability to work successfully / actively engage with a highly distributed team.

US Person requirement *Due to applicable laws, government regulations and con