Post-Training Research Engineer
At a glance
Mid-level AI Research role at Baseten. San Francisco · full-time · $200,000–$275,000 base.
aimlroles summary, based on the employer's posting.
What you'll do
- Build internal tools that help the team post-train customer models using varied techniques and architectures
- Make model training more efficient across the stack, from distributed tensor work to GPU kernels
- Work on systems such as Kubernetes, storage, and networking to support training at scale
What you bring
- Strong knowledge of modern machine learning methods and tools for training transformers
- Advanced skill with PyTorch, TensorFlow, Jax or another tensor computation library
- You can profile distributed GPU workloads, improve performance, and analyze transformer training efficiency
- You understand transformer parallelism and core operating-system concepts
Who this fits
This mid-level research engineering role suits you if you combine machine learning depth with systems work and are comfortable tackling ill-defined technical problems alongside researchers. The job is hybrid in San Francisco.
From the employer
ABOUT BASETEN
Baseten powers mission-critical inference for the world's most dynamic AI companies, like Cursor, Notion, OpenEvidence, Abridge, Clay, Gamma, and Writer. By uniting applied AI research, flexible infrastructure, and seamless developer tooling, we enable companies operating at the frontier of AI to bring cutting-edge models into production. We're growing quickly and recently raised our $1.5B Series F, led by Altimeter Capital, Conviction Partners, and Spark Capital. Join us and help build the platform engineers turn to ship AI products.
We are looking for an engineer with strong experience in machine learning and solid foundations in math and computer science to join our growing Post-Training team at Baseten.
THE ROLE
Custom models are instrumental to the success of Baseten customers. By inference volume, the overwhelming majority of traffic at Baseten is to and from models that have been post-trained in some way, whether that be through reinforcement learning, supervised finetuning, a recent technique from the literature, or an in-house research technique from Baseten. The Post-Training team is responsible for the success of our customers’ post-trained models, and we employ a wide array of techniques to produce models that are more efficient and higher quality than even the biggest closed source models for the customer’s specific needs.
Your role as a research engineer is to build the in-house tooling to support all of this. We care about training a wide spectrum of different model architectures with a variety of techniques efficiently and at scale. At times this involves zooming deep into a particular technical topic, but more often it involves working across the stack as a whole - systems-level concepts like Kubernetes, cgroups, storage systems, and networking topologies, as well as PyTorch distributed tensor computation, and GPU kernels.
The Manifesto: https://labs.baseten.co/manifesto
RECENT RESEARCH
We don’t have a rigid set of skills, but here’s some of what we’re looking for:
A deep understanding of modern ML techniques and tools for training transformers
Advanced experience in a tensor/array computation library like PyTorch, TensorFlow, Jax, or similar
A detailed understanding of transformer training parallelism strategies like data parallelism, sharded data parallelism, tensor parallelism, pipeline parallelism, context parallelism
The experience and knowledge to profile and improve the performance of a distributed GPU program in PyTorch or a similar library
The ability to perform roofline analysis on a transformer training setup
A willingness to dive into messy problems, work with researchers, derive specifications by asking important questions, and execute
Familiarity with HPC and distributed computing platforms like Slurm, Ray, Kubernetes, and Dask
Familiarity with cluster networking technology like Infiniband, RoCE, GPUDirect
Solid fundamentals in operating systems concepts like processes, files, kernel drivers, containerization, and networking protocols
A sense of creativity and willingness to ask difficult questions about our approach, assumptions, and tooling choices
BENEFITS
Competitive compensation, including meaningful equity
(U.S. only) 100% coverage of medical, dental, and vision insurance for employee and dependents
Flexible PTO policy including company wide Winter Break (our offices are closed from Christmas Eve to New Year's Day!)
Paid parental leave
Fertility and family-building stipend through Carrot
(U.S. only) Company-facilitated 401(k)
Exposure to a variety of ML startups, offering unparalleled learning and networking opportunities.
Apply now to embark on a rewarding journey in shaping the future of AI! If you are a motivated individual with a passion for machine learning and a desire to be part of a collaborative and forward-thinking team, we would love to hear from you.
At Baseten, we are committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace. We provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, genetic information, disability, or veteran status.
We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and will consider qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with applicable law (by example, the requirements of the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, where applicable).