Motion Capture Lab Manager

Scope of the Role: 

Innodata is building a motion capture facility to produce the fine-grained human motion data that physical AI and world models require, data that no public dataset provides. The physical build begins in mid-2026, and this person will help stand it up and then run it day to day. The role is roughly half infrastructure and operations, half creative direction of capture sessions. You will own the equipment, the capture pipeline, and the quality of what comes off the stage. You do not need to be a roboticist, but you will be comfortable working in a space shared with robotic hardware.

What You’ll Own:

• Operate and maintain the optical motion capture system, including camera setup, daily volume calibration, marker placement, and suit and glove fitting for full-body and finger capture.
• Plan and direct capture sessions against client motion specifications, including scenario design, performer direction, and shot planning.
• Run the data pipeline from raw capture through cleanup, retargeting, and export in standard formats such as BVH and FBX.
• Perform quality control against precision and frame-rate requirements, and document calibration error bounds and skeleton resolution for each delivery.
• Maintain lab infrastructure: capture hardware, workstations, storage, networking, and the software toolchain.
• Coordinate with hardware vendors and integrators during build-out and for ongoing support and upgrades.
• Work safely and effectively in a lab shared with robotic systems, coordinating stage time and space with the robotics team.

You’ll Thrive in This Role If You Have:

• Hands-on experience operating a professional optical motion capture system (for example OptiTrack, Vicon, or comparable), including calibration and troubleshooting.
• Experience with full-body and finger or hand capture and the associated cleanup and retargeting workflow.
• Fluency with motion capture software and export formats, and comfort with the file and data management that high-volume capture requires.
• The ability to direct performers and run a session efficiently, balancing creative judgment with technical precision.
• A methodical approach to calibration, QC, and documentation, since the value of the data depends on its measured accuracy.
• Comfort working around robotic hardware and collaborating with a technical team. No robotics background required.
• Background in film, games, or VFX motion capture, or in a research or biomechanics capture setting.
• Direct experience with Vicon hardware and the Shogun software stack.
• Familiarity with scripting for pipeline automation (Python preferred).
• Exposure to simulation or synthetic data tools such as NVIDIA Omniverse.

The expected salary range for this position is $120,000 - $160,000 USD per year, based on experience, skills, and qualifications.