AI Researcher – 4D Reconstruction (Contractor) in Cambridge

About Huawei Research and Development UK Limited. Founded in 1987, Huawei is a leading global provider of information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure and smart devices. We have 207,000 employees and operate in over 170 countries and regions, serving more than three billion people around the world.

Our vision and mission is to bring digital to every person, home and organization for a fully connected, intelligent world. To this end, we will drive ubiquitous connectivity and promote equal access to networks; bring cloud and artificial intelligence to all four corners of the earth to provide superior computing power where you need it, when you need it; build digital platforms to help all industries and organizations become more agile, efficient, and dynamic; redefine user experience with AI, making it more personalized for people in all aspects of their life, whether they’re at home, in the office, or on the go.

This spirit of innovation has led Huawei to work in close partnership with leading academic institutions in the UK to develop and refine the latest technologies. With a shared commitment to innovation and progress, both parties have worked together to achieve common goals and establish a strong partnership. The partnership between UK and Huawei helps to develop the technologies of the future that will transform the way we all communicate, work and live.

For the past 30 years we have maintained an unwavering focus, rejecting shortcuts and easy opportunities that don't align with our core business. With a practical approach to everything we do, we concentrate our efforts and invest patiently to drive technological breakthroughs.

This strategic focus is a reflection of our core values:

• Staying customer-centric
• Inspiring dedication
• Persevering
• Growing by reflection

Huawei Research and Development UK Limited Overview. Huawei’s vision is a fully connected, intelligent world. To achieve this, we work to inspire passion for basic research around the world. Our combined passion drives development across the global innovation value chain. Huawei has the largest Research and Development organization in the world with 96,000+ employees in research centers around the globe. In the UK, we already have design centers in Cambridge, London, Edinburgh and Ipswich. We continue to explore and define new research directions and new services. We have expanded our collaborations with academic researchers; researched new network architectures, integration of communications and key enabling technologies; and developed the fundamental theories of these technologies. We invite you to join us on this exciting journey and drive your career forward.

Job Summary. As an AI researcher, you will be part of the team, delivering algorithms inspired by the human visual system. In particular, you will be working in 3D and 4D reconstruction, developing prototypes applying research ideas to real-world problems. The role has the opportunity for involvement in other areas within the group such as power-saving rendering techniques, motion perception modelling and video quality metrics.

Key Responsibilities:

• Design, implement and evaluate novel algorithms for 3D and 4D reconstruction. Explore compression techniques for 3D and 4D scenes.
• Translate successful research into working prototypes, optimising both the runtime and power consumption of the techniques.
• Characterise trade-offs between different reconstruction algorithms, including model size, training time, rendering time, rendered quality and novel view generalisability.
• Develop metrics for quality of 3D and 4D reconstructions, based on the principles of vision science and human visibility.
• Be collaborative with researchers within the group, researchers and engineers elsewhere in the company, as well as with external researchers in universities, and other labs.

This job description is only an outline of the tasks, responsibilities and outcomes required of the role. The jobholder will carry out any other duties as may be reasonably required by his/her line manager. The job description and personal specification may be reviewed on an ongoing basis in accordance with the changing needs of Huawei Research and Development UK Limited.

Required:

• PhD in Computer Science, Machine Learning, or a related field, with 2+ years of relevant industry or post-PhD research experience or Master in related field, with 5+ years of industry experience.
• Demonstrated expertise in 3D/4D reconstruction, novel-view synthesis or Gaussian splatting. First-author publications in top-tier venues (NeurIPS, CVPR, SIGGRAPH, etc.) or industry experience in these topics.
• Knowledge of human-inspired image/video quality metrics.
• Strong programming skills in Python.
• An in-depth understanding of the deep learning approaches and working experience with machine learning framework/packages (e.g., PyTorch).

Desired:

• Background knowledge of video compression techniques and standards such as HEVC.
• Familiarity with GPU programming such as CUDA.
• Knowledge of vision science, e.g. motion perception, colour science or contrast sensitivity.

Personal Attributes:

• A passion for overcoming applied research challenges, strong problem-solving abilities and distinct skills to quickly acquire expertise in new areas.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, research-driven environment with ambiguous, evolving objectives.
• Proactive team player who is also capable of working independently.
• Positive attitude in working & learning and actively seeks to share ideas and information with colleagues.
• Proven ability to work under own initiative, and to seek advice when required.
• Good communication and interpersonal skills.