About the role
At Furhat Robotics we believe robots, done right, can have an incredible impact on our quality of life, and make the world more social, interactive, and inclusive. While we develop all the technical breakthroughts to get there, we are also building the world's largest and most active scientific community in social robotics. They use our robots, collaborate with us, and advance the field using our tools. Furhat today is used by universities, research institutes, and innovation labs across the globe to explore human-AI interaction, social robotics, and embodied AI. Our robots are deployed in over 40 countries and used in hundreds of scientific publications across many disciplines. We’re now looking for a Research Program Manager to lead and grow our research and academic collaboration ecosystem. This is a hybrid, multi-discplinary, role that is best filled by a scientist with a passion for community building.
About
the Role As Research Program Manager , you will play a central role in developing Furhat's research funding and our research collaboration ecosystem. You’ll manage ongoing research projects, drive new collaborations, grow our research funding, and act as the bridge between the scientific community and our internal teams. Your role combines strategic coordination , community building , and hands-on project management — ensuring that Furhat remains the global hub for social robotics research. 🔧 Key
Responsibilities 1. EU & Funded Project Management Manage active EU-funded projects (e.g. Horizon Europe, Marie Skłodowska-Curie, etc). Coordinate reporting, deliverables, and partner communication. Oversee project budgets, timelines, and compliance with funding rules. Represent Furhat in consortium meetings and reviews. Prepare and submit project reports, financial summaries, and audits. Supervise or co-supervise staff (PhD and Masters students). 2. Research & Academic Collaboration Develop and maintain relationships with academic labs and scientific institutions using Furhat. Track and report research publications, thesis projects, and new use cases involving Furhat robots. Identify and support promising research groups with technical and community assistance. Supervise and coordinate MSc thesis students and research interns hosted at Furhat. Translate research insights into feedback for product and marketing teams. 3. Funding & Proposal Development Identify new funding opportunities aligned with Furhat’s roadmap. Coordinate with academic partners to co-author proposals. Draft technical, impact, and budget sections for new applications. Build and maintain a funding calendar and knowledge base. 4. Community & Events Act as “Customer Success Manager” for Furhat’s academic users — helping them succeed and share their work. Organize and host Furhat-led research events: Furhat Conference (FurCon) Workshops and special sessions at major conferences (HRI, IVA, RO-MAN, Interspeech, etc.) Represent Furhat at academic and innovation events globally. Maintain a research community newsletter and engagement channels. 5. Reporting, Insights & Communication Create quarterly insights reports on global trends in social robotics and human-AI research. Maintain an internal research impact dashboard (labs, publications, geography, topics). Contribute to blog posts, press releases, and internal communications highlighting Furhat’s academic footprint. 🧩
