Senior Technical Fellow - Advanced Robotics & Autonomy - Advanced Research Office - GE Aerospace Research at GE Aerospace in Niskayuna

Job description

• GE Aerospace Research plays a vital role in shaping the future of flight. We invent the future of flight, lift people up and bring them home safely. Our commitment to lead the industry, to keep safe the flying public and the armed forces, and to lift-up one another and our communities, remains our north star. Our purpose is what ties us to one another and gives meaning to our work.
• The Advanced Research Office (ARO) exists to create - and prevent - technological surprises for GE
• Aerospace by investing in breakthrough technologies that have the potential to revolutionize our industry.
• The ARO deliberately looks past the current product technology roadmap and out to a long horizon - on the order of 10 to 15+ years, and in some cases further - to identify future threats and opportunities across today's core markets as well as adjacent and emerging ones.
• It sponsors long-range, high-risk / high-reward research that advances key learnings while bridging the gap between fundamental discoveries and their industrial applications.
• Senior Technical Fellows (STFs) are senior technical leaders who scan and interpret the external landscape, frame the long-range bets worth making, shape ambitious ideas into disciplined efforts, leverage technology strategies to drive real business outcomes for GE
• Aerospace, and own the outcomes of the programs they drive - transition to the business, expansion into larger internal or external investment, or a well-reasoned stop.
• The Senior Technical Fellow for Advanced Robotics & Autonomy will shape and own program outcomes in the ARO that convert advances in robotics, autonomy, and human-machine teaming into future business advantage for GE
• Aerospace on a horizon well beyond current product plans - typically 10 to 15+ years out, and in some cases further. The technical aperture is broad: robotics and autonomy will impact GE
• Aerospace in ways we can partly anticipate today (for example, advanced robotics applied to maintenance and manufacturing environments) and in ways that are not yet defined.
• This role is expected to identify and shape the highest-value opportunities - within and beyond currently framed areas - and to leverage technology strategy as a means to deliver business outcomes such as improved safety, quality, delivery, and cost.
• This is a technical leadership role without direct functional reports; influence is exerted through technical authority, program shaping, mentorship, and disciplined execution.

Responsibilities

• Ensure the safety of all people engaged in the technical scope of their work - including safety of humans working alongside robotic and autonomous systems - as fundamental to how we operate, above all else.
• Continuously scan and interpret the external landscape - academia, national labs, startups, competitors, and adjacent industries - and translate that view into a clear point of view on the long-range robotics and autonomy threats and opportunities most consequential to GE Aerospace, including areas well beyond today's product technology roadmap and in adjacent or emerging markets.
• Discover, curate, and drive revolutionary technological advancements in robotics, autonomy, and human-machine teaming that translate into high-impact business outcomes for GE Aerospace on a long (typically 10-15+ year, in some cases further) horizon.
• Shape and own program outcomes: define the technical thesis in terms of the business advantage it creates, retire key technical and adoption risks early, set aggressive but meaningful milestones, and drive operation, quality, and delivery to impact.
• Drive multi-disciplinary efforts that reach beyond the individual's own technical area of expertise - actively convening and integrating capabilities from other disciplines across GE Aerospace Research and beyond (for example, materials, manufacturing, aero-thermal, controls, systems, digital and AI, human factors, and others as needed) - recognizing that the highest-impact opportunities are usually cross-cutting rather than contained within a single discipline.
• Actively identify new opportunity areas where robotics and autonomy can create advantage for GE Aerospace - across manufacturing, maintenance and services, product, and emerging domains - rather than working within a fixed technical scope.
• Leverage technology strategy - roadmaps, technology scouting, and portfolio choices - as a means to secure competitive advantage and business outcomes, not as an end in itself.
• Make transparent go / no-go / pivot decisions at stage gates with clear logic and lessons learned; retire work that no longer meets the business-value hypothesis.
• Shape and steer strategic partnerships with robot platform companies, academia, and national labs so GE Aerospace influences the capabilities being built rather than only consuming what the market offers.
• Shape and win externally funded programs (DARPA, DoD, NSF, ARM Institute, DoE, industry consortia) that materially advance GE Aerospace business priorities; coach principal investigators on technical framing, program capture, and review defense.
• Use IRAD as strategic seed capital: place concentrated bets on high-upside concepts, generate early proof points, retire risk, and position GE Aerospace to win larger external programs and business commitments.
• Build trusted engagement with GE Aerospace product, engineering, manufacturing, MRO, and services leaders to develop a deep understanding of the business - its priorities, constraints, and future needs - and where advanced research could create meaningful advantage. Advanced research is exploratory by nature; much of the value comes from insight, options, and early evidence that shape business strategy - not only from technologies that ultimately reach a product or service.
• Recruit, mentor, and grow technical talent across the robotics and autonomy community at GE Aerospace Research; nurture Technical Fellows, senior scientists, and early-career researchers into increasingly consequential roles.
• Represent GE Aerospace externally through keynotes, university engagements, workshops, and strategic partnerships; project the ambition and energy that attracts top talent to the center.
• Help shape and drive the ARO operating model and lead continuous improvement of how the ARO selects, executes, and transitions advanced research..

Requirements

• Ph.D. in Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a closely related discipline.
• Minimum 15 years of progressive research and technical leadership experience across autonomous systems, robotics, machine learning, and / or human-machine teaming, with applied work translating research into demonstrated business or operational impact.
• Demonstrated record of shaping and owning outcomes on a portfolio of R&D efforts - including framing the business thesis, technical execution, team formation, capital / lab investment planning, and stage-gated decision making.
• Track record of moving robotics or autonomy technology from research into demonstration or deployment in a real operational setting (manufacturing, MRO, defense operations, or comparable) where it created measurable value.
• Demonstrated success securing external research funding from public or private sources (NSF, DARPA, DoD, ARM Institute, industry consortia, EU framework programs, or equivalent).
• Strong technical depth in two or more of: collaborative autonomy and human-robot collaboration, machine learning (including modern deep learning, RL, and LLM-based agents), cognitive and intelligent systems, computer vision and multimodal perception, task and motion planning, or assurance / safety for autonomous systems.
• Legal authorization to work in the U.S. is required. We will not sponsor individuals for employment visas, now or in the future, for this job opening.
• Ability to attain and maintain a U.S. Government security clearance; must meet U.S. Person status for access to export-controlled information.
• Must be willing to work out of an office located in Niskayuna, NY.
• These are the attributes we will evaluate as rigorously as technical qualifications. They are what separate a good scientist from a Senior Technical Fellow at GE Aerospace Research.
• Ownership. Takes full ownership of outcomes and the steps required to drive them. Does not abdicate responsibility or accept roadblocks; works actively to secure the support needed while keeping the outcome squarely on their shoulders - even through perceived obstacles.
• Strong communicator. A clear thinker who conveys ideas cleanly, and equally strong at receiving input and making sense of it in context. When something is unclear, they seek clarity with curiosity - not with a predetermined conclusion in mind.
• Strong collaborator. Actively works across technical domains, business units, and external partners. Creates conditions where teams move faster together than any one contributor could alone.
• Thrives through ambiguity. Comfortable operating without a fully defined path while keeping the target business outcomes in mind; converts uncertainty into structured hypotheses, decisions, and progress.
• Grows others in their strengths. Actively identifies talent, coaches individuals into consequential roles, and builds a bench of future technical leaders. Deploys coaching and mentoring deliberately and distinctly: applies structured coaching to build others' independent problem-solving and decision-making capability and mentoring to transfer hard-won technical and organizational judgment.
• Willing to grow themselves. Actively curious; models the learning behavior expected and welcomes challenge to their own thinking.
• This role requires access to U.S. export-controlled information. Therefore, employment will be contingent upon the ability to prove that you meet the status of a U.S. Person as one of the following: U.S. lawful permanent resident, U.S. Citizen, have been granted asylee or refugee status (i.e., a protected individual under the Immigration and Naturalization Act, 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3)).
• Recognized thought leader in robotics, autonomy, or applied AI, with sustained external visibility (invited keynotes, editorial positions, workshop / conference chairing, consortium leadership, or equivalent).
• Strong publication and patent record in robotics, autonomy, or AI; contributions recognized by peer-reviewed journals and top-tier robotics / AI conferences (ICRA, IROS, HUMANOIDS, NeurIPS, ICML, RSS, or equivalent).
• Experience leading a research lab or discipline (autonomy, AI, robotics) inside a corporate research center or comparable environment, including staffing, capital investment planning, and roadmap ownership at the corporate level.
• Experience leading, or serving as PI on, an ARM Institute, NSF I/UCRC, DARPA, or equivalent consortium-style program.
• Established relationships across the robotics ecosystem: academia, national labs, humanoid and industrial robot platform companies, and startups.
• Working knowledge of GE Aerospace manufacturing and MRO operations (or comparable high-consequence industrial operations) and the constraints that govern deployment of robotics and autonomy into those environments.
• Experience placing IRAD-style seed capital and defending stop / pivot / scale decisions on high-visibility programs.

Skills

Required

• Robotics
• Autonomy
• Human-machine teaming
• Cognitive and intelligent systems
• Task and motion planning
• Technical leadership
• Program shaping and ownership
• Technology strategy
• External research funding acquisition
• Mentorship and talent development
• Communication and collaboration

Preferred

• Strong publication and patent record
• Experience with IRAD-style seed capital

Benefits

• GE Aerospace offers comprehensive benefits and programs to support your health and, along with programs like HealthAhead, your physical, emotional, financial and social wellbeing. Healthcare benefits include medical, dental, vision, and prescription drug coverage; access to a Health Coach from GE Aerospace; and the Employee Assistance Program, which provides 24/7 confidential assessment, counseling and referral services. Retirement benefits include the GE Aerospace Retirement Savings Plan, a 401(k) savings plan with company matching contributions and company retirement contributions, as well as access to Fidelity resources and planning consultants. Other benefits include tuition assistance, adoption assistance, paid parental leave, disability insurance, life insurance, and paid time-off for vacation or illness. ​
• GE Aerospace (General Electric Company or the Company) and its affiliates each sponsor certain employee benefit plans or programs (i.e., is a “Sponsor”). Each Sponsor reserves the right to terminate, amend, suspend, replace or modify its benefit plans and programs at any time and for any reason, in its sole discretion. No individual has a vested right to any benefit under a Sponsor’s welfare benefit plan or program. This document does not create a contract of employment with any individual.
• The base pay range for this position is $200,000 - $340,000 USD USD Annually. The specific pay offered may be influenced by a variety of factors, including the candidate’s experience, education, and skill set. This position is also eligible for an annual discretionary bonus based on a percentage of your base salary/ commission based on the plan. This posting is expected to close on November 26th, 2026.