Applied Research Scientist – Foundation Models

🌍 Remote, USA 🎯 Full-time 🕐 Posted Recently

Job Description

Develop & Optimize VLMs: Design and optimize transformer-based vision-language models to understand images, videos, and text, and optimize for real-time inference.
Pre-training & Fine-tuning: Own the full training pipeline—from pre-training on image-text data to fine-tuning for Ambient.ai’s physical security domain and use cases.
Model Compression & Optimization: Apply techniques like distillation, quantization, and pruning to reduce model size and latency, enabling efficient edge deployment.
Leverage Open-Source & Innovate: Use and extend state-of-the-art open-source models. Prototype new architectures and training methods to advance Ambient.ai’s multimodal AI research.
Cross-Team Collaboration: Work with engineering and product teams to integrate models into the platform. Iterate based on real-world feedback and deployment data to improve performance.
Research and Experimentation: Stay current with vision, NLP, and multimodal AI research. Design experiments to test new algorithms and continually enhance our core AI systems.

Ph.D. or Master’s in CS, EE, or related field, with a strong foundation in AI/ML (Ph.D. preferred or Master’s with strong experience)
Proficient in Python/C++ and deep learning frameworks like PyTorch or TensorFlow. Comfortable with large-scale training pipelines
Hands-on experience with CNNs, Transformers, and Vision Transformers (ViT). Strong understanding of vision-language models and how to fine-tune or adapt them
Proven skills in model training and optimization, including fine-tuning on large datasets and applying distillation, quantization, or similar techniques. Experience with foundation or multimodal models is a plus.
Strong problem-solving ability: quick prototyping, diagnosing failure cases, and iterating on solutions
Startup experience preferred: Comfortable with ambiguity, fast iteration, and owning projects end-to-end

Comprehensive health + welfare package (Medical, Dental, Vision, Life, EAP, Legal Services, 401k plan)
We offer flexible time off to rest and recharge, including Winter Break (time off between Christmas and New Year’s for most roles, depending on customer demand)
Regular Full-time employees receive stock options for the opportunity to share ownership in the success of our company
You’ll receive everything you need to hit the ground running, including cutting-edge equipment and branded gear
Enjoy a full range of opportunities to connect with your awesome co-workers
We love to hike, are foodies, and love music! Check out our most recent Ambient Spotify Playlist

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