Research Engineer, Infrastructure, RL Systems
Thinking Machines Lab is seeking a Research Engineer to design and build core systems that enable scalable, efficient training of large models through reinforcement learning. This role sits at the intersection of research and large-scale systems engineering, requiring a deep understanding of reinforcement learning algorithms and the realities of distributed training and inference at scale. The successful candidate will collaborate closely with researchers and infrastructure teams to make reinforcement learning stable, fast, and production-ready.
Key responsibilities include designing, building, and optimizing infrastructure that powers large-scale reinforcement learning and post-training workloads. The engineer will improve the reliability and scalability of RL training pipelines, develop shared monitoring and observability tools, and build evaluation and benchmarking infrastructure to measure model progress on helpfulness, safety, and factuality. Additionally, the role involves publishing and sharing learnings through internal documentation, open-source libraries, or technical reports that advance the field of scalable AI infrastructure.
The ideal candidate will have a bachelor's degree or equivalent experience in computer science, electrical engineering, statistics, machine learning, physics, robotics, or a related field. Strong engineering skills are essential, with the ability to contribute performant, maintainable code and debug complex codebases. A solid understanding of deep learning frameworks such as PyTorch or JAX and their underlying system architectures is required. The candidate should thrive in a highly collaborative environment involving various cross-functional partners and subject matter experts and possess a proactive mindset to take initiative across different stacks and teams.
Thinking Machines Lab offers a competitive annual salary range of $350,000 to $475,000, depending on background, skills, and experience. The company provides generous health, dental, and vision benefits, unlimited paid time off, paid parental leave, and relocation support as needed. Visa sponsorship is available for qualified candidates.
Joining Thinking Machines Lab means becoming part of a team dedicated to advancing collaborative general intelligence. The company values innovation, collaboration, and the pursuit of making AI systems more widely understood and customizable. Employees have the opportunity to work on cutting-edge AI products and contribute to widely used open-source projects, fostering both personal and professional growth.