--- title: 'Research Scientist, Neural Reconstruction at Waabi' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/research-scientist-neural-reconstruction-waabi-toronto-ham5802k6s70' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-09-10' --- # Research Scientist, Neural Reconstruction at Waabi - **Company:** Waabi - **Location:** Toronto, Canada - **Employment:** full-time - **Work type:** hybrid - **Posted:** 2026-03-27 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-10 - **Apply:** https://jobs.lever.co/waabi/bf359782-cfba-4204-86f8-db1921a178f9 ## Job description Waabi, founded by AI visionary Raquel Urtasun, is the leader in Physical AI. With a world-class team, we're unlocking the next era of autonomous transportation with technology that's powering commercial autonomous trucks and robotaxis. Waabi is backed by and partners with world leaders in AI, automotive, logistics, and deep tech. With offices in Toronto, San Francisco, Dallas, and Pittsburgh, Waabi is growing quickly and looking for diverse, innovative and collaborative candidates who want to impact the world in a positive way. To learn more visit: www.waabi.ai Waabi World depends on accurate, scalable, and efficient reconstruction of the 3D/4D physical world from real-world sensor data. As a Research Scientist in Neural Reconstruction, you will develop the next generation of neural scene-representation and reconstruction algorithms that transform sparse, noisy, and partially observed driving data into realistic and controllable digital worlds. This role focuses on 3D/4D neural reconstruction and rendering, including 3DGS/NeRF, neural scene representation, and generalizable reconstruction models. Your work will directly power Waabi World’s ability to build high-fidelity scene assets, recover geometry and dynamics from sensor data, and support realistic simulation and rendering at scale. You will… Conduct fundamental and applied research in neural reconstruction, including: ## 3DGS / NeRF Dynamic scene reconstruction Feed-forward reconstruction Multi-sensor scene representation learning Build scalable reconstruction and simulation systems for dynamic urban scenes, including vehicles, background, lighting, and long-range structure. Collaborate with simulation engineers to integrate models into large-scale, distributed training and rendering pipelines. Publish high-impact research at top conferences (CVPR, ECCV, ICCV, NeurIPS, ICLR, ICRA, SIGGRAPH). Mentor junior scientists and interns; foster a culture of scientific rigor and rapid experimentation. Stay current with emerging advances in neural rendering, 3D representation learning, differentiable rendering, and scalable reconstruction systems. Qualifications: Demonstrated technical innovation:  You have a Ph.D. in Computer Vision, Machine Learning, Robotics, or a related field or equivalent research experience pushing the boundaries of a technical field.. Strong prototyping and implementation:  You have expert-level Python & PyTorch (or JAX) skills; strong software-engineering fundamentals and experience with distributed training. Expert domain knowledge: You have built  generative or predictive models of the physical world with scale and efficiency in mind for real-world applications Team player:  You have worked in a close-knit team of researchers and engineers and have strong communication  to deliver successful projects. Bonus: Proven ability to translate research into production-quality code and measurable product impact. Demonstrated first-author publications in top-tier venues on topics such as: 3DGS / NeRF / neural rendering 3D / 4D reconstruction Generalizable reconstruction Geometry-aware or multi-sensor representation learning Experience working with camera, LiDAR, maps, and large-scale driving datasets. Strong background in graphics, geometry, rendering systems, or simulation. The US yearly salary range for this role is: $155,000 - $269,000 USD in addition to competitive perks & benefits. Waabi US Inc.’s yearly salary ranges are determined based on several factors in accordance with the Company’s compensation practices. The salary base range is reflective of the minimum and maximum target for new hire salaries for the position across all US locations.  Note: The Company provides additional compensation for employees in this role, including equity incentive awards and an annual performance bonus. Perks/Benefits: Competitive compensation and equity awards. Health and Wellness benefits encompassing Medical, Dental and Vision coverage (for full-time employees only). Unlimited Vacation. Flexible hours and Work from Home support. Daily drinks, snacks and catered meals (when in office). Regularly scheduled team building activities and social events both on-site, off-site & virtually. As we grow, this list continues to evolve! Waabi is a technology start-up building technologies to transform the way the world moves. Join our talented team to be a part of the future and to make an impact! Waabi is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating a supportive, inclusive, and accessible workplace for all our employees. We seek applicants of all backgrounds and identities, across race, color, ethnicity, national origin or ancestry, age, citizenship, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, military or veteran status, marital status, pregnancy or parental status, caregiver status, disability, or any other characteristic protected by law. We make workplace accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities as required by applicable law. If reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process please let our recruiting team know. ## About Waabi ## Company Overview - **One-liner**: Waabi is pioneering Physical AI for autonomous vehicles, starting with self-driving trucks and expanding into robotaxis, using a breakthrough interpretable AI model and the industry's most realistic neural simulator. - **Entity Type**: Private (Series C, $1B total funding) - **Headquarters**: Toronto, Ontario, Canada - **Founded**: 2021 - **Founders**: Raquel Urtasun ## Core Business - **Primary industries**: Autonomous vehicle technology, truck transportation, logistics, robotaxi services - **Target customers**: B2B – trucking fleets, logistics providers, and eventually ride-hailing operators; enterprise partnerships with OEMs and transportation companies - **Mission**: To empower humanity to build a better tomorrow by fundamentally rethinking how autonomous vehicles are developed, deployed, and scaled – safely and efficiently. ## Products & Services - **Waabi Driver**: An end-to-end, interpretable and verifiable AI system that enables self-driving capabilities for trucks and, soon, robotaxis. The system is designed to be scalable and safe by leveraging a next-generation neural simulator (Waabi World) for validation before deployment on public roads. - **Waabi World**: The industry’s most realistic neural simulator, used for testing and training the Waabi Driver in millions of scenarios, dramatically reducing the time and resources needed to bring autonomous vehicles to market. ## Market Standing - **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not disclosed (private company) - **Key Metrics**: Annual Revenue: $11.2M (est., from private data providers); Total Funding: ~$1B across four rounds; Headcount: 271 employees (+51% YoY) - **Notable Investors/Partners**: Khosla Ventures (lead in Series B & C), Uber, Volvo Group Venture Capital, Radical Ventures, NVentures (NVIDIA’s venture arm) - **Growth Signals**: - Raised $750M Series C in January 2026 (led by Khosla Ventures) - Expanding from autonomous trucks into robotaxi market (hired Ryan Wallace as GM of Robotaxi in Sept 2026) - 52 active job postings (+62% YoY job posting growth) - Talent influx from Cruise, Aurora, Uber, Waymo, TuSimple, NVIDIA ## Competitive Advantages - **Interpretable & verifiable AI**: Unlike black-box systems, Waabi’s end-to-end model is designed to be transparent and auditable, increasing trust and regulatory viability. - **Neural simulator (Waabi World)**: Enables massive-scale virtual testing that accelerates development while maintaining safety – a key moat over rivals that rely on costly real-world miles. - **Founder-led**: Raquel Urtasun is a world-renowned AI researcher (former Uber ATG chief scientist) with deep expertise in computer vision and autonomous systems. ## Strategic Focus - **Scale the Waabi Driver** for commercial trucking operations and simultaneously **enter the robotaxi market**. - **Deepen OEM and strategic partnerships** (e.g., with Volvo and Uber) to integrate technology into production vehicles. - **Continue aggressive hiring** of AI researchers, software engineers, systems engineers, and policy experts across North America. ## Why Work Here - **Culture**: Values safety, efficiency, data-driven decision-making, and a "virtuous cycle of innovation." Emphasis on real-world impact and personal growth. - **Remote/Hybrid**: Offers remote flexibility with 5 offices across North America (Toronto, San Francisco, Dallas, Phoenix, Pittsburgh). Many roles are hybrid or remote. - **Engineering culture**: Technical stack includes Python, PyTorch, TensorFlow, CUDA, ROS, Linux, Kubernetes, and proprietary simulation tools. 43% of employees are in technical roles, 15% in research. - **Perks**: Not explicitly listed, but strong employer rating (4.6/5 on third-party reviews) and high compensation (e.g., Staff Software Developer median ~$151K USD, Systems Engineer ~$124K). - **Growth opportunities**: 51% YoY headcount growth, many leadership hires; career progression from intern to director roles is common. ## Sources 1. [waabi.ai/careers](https://www.waabi.ai/careers) 2. [waabi.ai/company](https://waabi.ai/company) 3. [jobs.lever.co/waabi](https://jobs.lever.co/waabi) 4. [linkedin.com/company/waabi](https://www.linkedin.com/company/waabi) 5. [cbinsights.com/company/waabi](https://www.cbinsights.com/company/waabi) ## Other roles at Waabi - [Vehicle Reliability Engineer - Night Shift](https://feeny.ai/job/vehicle-reliability-engineer-night-shift-waabi-dallas-3e8r7gae8dfc) — Dallas, TX - [Senior Product Designer, Autonomy Data & Tooling](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-product-designer-autonomy-data-tooling-waabi-toronto-rm8emj4m9qcv) — Toronto, Canada - [Staff Planner SW Quality Architect](https://feeny.ai/job/staff-planner-sw-quality-architect-waabi-us-rtftjrfsqkj1) — US &, Canada - [Staff Systems Engineer - Operational Readiness and Field Safety](https://feeny.ai/job/staff-systems-engineer-operational-readiness-and-field-safety-waabi-united-ww24dedpeqtv) — United States - [Applied AI Security Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/applied-ai-security-engineer-waabi-united-states-yqfqwngpexaz) — United States - [Test & Evaluation Operator](https://feeny.ai/job/test-evaluation-operator-waabi-phoenix-7cts9eejextc) — Phoenix, AZ - [Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) Software/Firmware Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/hardware-in-the-loop-hil-software-firmware-engineer-waabi-pittsburgh-n3m7g0gzdfb4) — Pittsburgh, PA - [Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) Team Lead](https://feeny.ai/job/hardware-in-the-loop-hil-team-lead-waabi-pittsburgh-36jhb2942yj2) — Pittsburgh, PA - [Bringup Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/bringup-engineer-waabi-pittsburgh-0p9szxz048d8) — Pittsburgh, PA - [Shift Supervisor - Day Shift](https://feeny.ai/job/shift-supervisor-day-shift-waabi-dallas-yvd80qd56k96) — Dallas, TX