Position Chief Scientist
Location Sunnyvale, CA
About
We serve the agricultural industry with revolutionary computer-vision based
robotics designed to unlock greater crop yield potential. We envision a future where farmers use
robotics to individually care for each plant in their fields. Our technology can dramatically
reduce the amount of chemicals used in agriculture as well as drive significant labor efficiencies,
while capturing valuable plant-by-plant data.
We receive support and investment from venture capital firms, including Khosla Ventures, Pontifax
AgTech, and Data Collective. We also generate revenue by operating our current third- generation
lettuce-thinning systems, which have set a new industry standard for precision and reliability.
Position description
We are looking for a highly skilled and energetic person to play a key leading role in improving
and supporting our revolutionary robotic and vision-based systems for agriculture. You will be
joining a world-class research and engineering team to provide critical skills in improving
existing systems and pushing the boundaries of this technology. We provide a high degree of
autonomy – you will have the opportunity to influence the development and implementation of our
world changing products. The role will include work in the following areas:
• Leading a computer vision group solving problems in detection of crops and weeds in a real-time
agricultural robotic system
• Implementing deep-learning-based classification systems for identifying, characterizing, and
classifying plants
• Exploring and developing new methods for improving detection performance and increasing the
speed of processing
• Working with the software team to transition processing from desktop/server class machines to
real-time, field robotic systems
• Helping to architect and develop data processing and annotation pipelines for continuous system
monitoring and improvement
The ideal candidate will be able to lead a small team while also being hands-on in helping to
develop
these systems. The position will be based at our company headquarters in Sunnyvale, CA.
Qualifications
• Ph.D. in Computer Vision or Machine Learning from a top research university
• 5+ years developing algorithms and solving problems in computer vision
• 3+ years in developing machine learning systems, with extensive experience on deep learning
systems
• Advanced proficiency in C++, Python, or related tools and system SW architecture
• Broad knowledge of the fields of Computer Vision and Machine Learning and vision to explore new
paths
• Experience leading and managing a technical team
• Excellent communication and teaming skills
• Passion to solve difficult problems
In addition, the following are a plus:
• Experience in implementing and improving deep learning systems and moving to real-time
processing on embedded hardware
• In-depth knowledge of computer vision and robotics libraries such as OpenCV and ROS
• Hands-on work on managing and doing GPU-based computing on large data sets