Associate Director, Simulation

We are hiring fantastic humans, and we hope that includes you!
Are you looking for more than just a job? At Chewy, you'll find yourself on a career path alongside other incredible people-like yourself. You'll join a team that values everything you do, who you are, and the goals you've set for your career. We want to give you the opportunity to grow, earn competitive pay, and be happy while you do it. Sounds simple, but we love it.
Chewy is pioneering the integration of humanoid robots into our fulfillment centers (FCs) to enhance efficiency, safety, and resilience. Central to this initiative is the development of high-fidelity digital twins of FC workstations and tasks, enabling reinforcement learning (RL) training for humanoid robots. We are seeking an experienced Associate Director of Simulation to lead this ground-breaking effort, with a specific focus on accurately modeling deformable objects and soft contact interactions essential for physical AI model training. This role will be based in-office located in Woburn, MA.
Key Responsibilities:

• Team Leadership: Lead and mentor a high-performing team of simulation engineers, fostering a collaborative, growth-oriented environment.
• Simulation Development: Oversee the creation and validation of physics-based digital twins of FC workstations and tasks, ensuring sufficient fidelity for reinforcement learning.
• Deformable Object Modeling: Drive the development of sophisticated simulations involving deformable solids such as heavy bags, soft packages, and flexible materials, leveraging pioneering physics engines.
• Soft Contact Mechanics: Implement and refine simulation models of soft contact interactions between robotic end-effectors and objects, ensuring accurate capture of grip dynamics, compliance, and deformation behaviors.
• Tool Integration: Build simulation environments using NVIDIA Omniverse and associated tools, including Isaac Sim, PhysX, and Flex, ensuring compatibility with reinforcement learning pipelines.
• Software Development Practices: Champion best practices in software engineering, including source control (e.g., Git), code modularity, unit and integration testing, CI/CD pipelines, and rigorous code review processes.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with AI researchers, roboticists, fulfillment center experts, and product managers to align simulation priorities with Chewy's strategic automation roadmap.
• Data Quality Management: Ensure the production of high-quality, domain-randomized simulation datasets to support robust RL model training and generalization.
• Research and Innovation: Stay at the forefront of advancements in simulation technology, deformable modeling, and physical AI, incorporating novel methods into simulation workflows.
• Publication and Influence: Contribute to scientific publications, public datasets, and conference presentations to establish Chewy as a recognized leader in the physical AI and robotics community.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Robotics, Mechanical Engineering, or a related field.
• 7+ years of experience in physics-based simulation or computational modeling, with 3+ years of technical leadership or people management experience.
• Demonstrated expertise in modeling deformable materials and simulating soft contact mechanics.
• Proficient with NVIDIA Omniverse, Isaac Sim, PhysX, Flex, or equivalent simulation frameworks.
• Strong software development skills in Python, C++, and familiarity with simulation scripting and automation.
• Deep understanding of reinforcement learning environments and their simulation requirements.
• Extensive experience with software engineering best practices: version control (Git), unit/integration testing, CI/CD pipelines, agile methodologies.
• Strong communication and organizational skills with an ability to lead technical complexity and cross-team collaboration.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with Isaac Lab for RL training and simulation-driven policy development.
• Familiarity with optical modeling for vision training, including lighting simulation and material property representation.
• Background in biomechanics, haptics, or soft robotics.
• Track record of open-source contributions or publications in simulation, deformable modeling, or reinforcement learning fields.
• Experience with experimental validation of simulation models against real-world measurements.

Why Join Us:
At Chewy, you'll be working at the cutting edge of robotics and AI innovation. This role offers a unique opportunity to shape the future of humanoid robot deployment in large-scale industrial operations, working alongside some of the brightest minds in simulation, reinforcement learning, and automation. Your work will accelerate the deployment of robots that make life better for thousands of workers-and millions of customers.
Chewy is committed to equal opportunity. We value and embrace diversity and inclusion of all Team Members. If you have a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act or similar law, and you need an accommodation during the application process or to perform these job requirements, or if you need a religious accommodation, please contact [email protected].
If you have a question regarding your application, please contact [email protected].
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