Research Engineer - Novel AI Platforms for Multiscale Alignment
Remote United States Full-time Mid-level AI Research
At a glance
Mid-level AI Research role at Future of Life Organizations. Remote, United States · full-time · $140,000–$210,000 base.
SalaryStated by Future of Life Organizations
$140,000 – $210,000
Base salary for this role, in USD per year, as published in the posting.
RoleAI Research
SeniorityMid-level
LocationUnited States
WorkplaceRemote
EmploymentFull-time
Base pay$140,000–$210,000
PostedJun 12, 2025 · 1y ago
Role brief
aimlroles summary, based on the employer's posting.
What you'll do
- Build agent environments and interaction platforms for safety research, internal tools, and community support
- Develop cooperative and multi-objective AI methods, including ways to resolve conflicts and combine preferences
- Create test frameworks and example environments to assess alignment and control ideas
- Build reusable research software and middleware for secure, efficient communication between agents
- Document system designs and APIs, and help prepare technical papers and research presentations
What you bring
- A master’s or doctoral degree in computer science, AI, or a related area, or equivalent experience
- Experience in at least one area such as multi-agent systems, dynamic plan recognition, activity recognition, or multicriteria decision-making
- Strong Python and Java programming, plus experience independently taking technical projects from idea to implementation
- Background in AI alignment, control, or safety, along with experience building middleware, frameworks, or platforms
Who this fits
This mid-level role suits an engineer who can work independently across practical AI systems development and alignment research. U.S.-authorized candidates can be hired as employees; candidates outside the U.S. would work as independent contractors, and visa sponsorship is unavailable.
From the employer
Job SummaryThe Alignment of Dynamical Cognitive Systems program seeks a Research Engineer to develop novel AI platforms addressing critical alignment challenges and practical LLM agents. Combining platform development with alignment research, this role requires expertise in agent-based systems and multi-objective optimization. You'll co-design and develop systems supporting safety research, internal tools, and community resources -- creating environments to shape multi-agent dynamics and implement cooperative AI architectures with robust alignment properties. You'll also build technical infrastructure to investigate experimental AI alignment and control approaches while collaborating with researchers to bring theoretical approaches into practice. This position offers the chance to develop foundational technologies essential for promoting safety as AI capabilities rapidly advance.
About CARMAThe Center for AI Risk Management & Alignment (CARMA) works to help society navigate the complex and potentially catastrophic risks arising from increasingly powerful AI systems. Our mission is specifically to lower the risks to humanity and the biosphere from transformative AI.We focus on grounding AI risk management in rigorous analysis, developing policy frameworks that squarely address AGI, advancing technical safety approaches, and fostering global perspectives on durable safety. Through these complementary approaches, CARMA aims to provide critical support to society for managing the outsized risks from advanced AI before they materialize.CARMA is a fiscally-sponsored project of Social & Environmental Entrepreneurs, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit public benefit corporation.
Responsibilities• Research and develop AI systems and platforms variously for: safety research, internal tooling, and safety community support• Design and implement architectures for agent execution environments and interaction platforms• Develop optimization algorithms for multi-objective and cooperative AI systems• Create mechanisms for conflict resolution and preference aggregation in multi-agent settings• Implement testing frameworks and example environments to validate theoretical approaches• Build middleware components that facilitate secure and efficient agent communication• Architect and develop reusable software components for AI alignment research• Document system architectures, APIs, and implementation details• Collaborate on technical publications and research presentations• Contribute to both practical implementations and theoretical research in AI alignment• Support the evaluation and refinement of research prototypes
Required Qualifications• MS or PhD in Computer Science, AI, or related field (or equivalent experience)• Experience with one or preferrably more of: dynamic plan recognition, activity recognition, dynamic multicriteria decision making, multi-agent systems, or AI builder platforms• Strong programming skills in both Python and Java• Demonstrated ability to relatively independently drive technical projects from concept to implementation• Familiarity with techniques for AI alignment, control, safety, or related research areas• Experience developing middleware, frameworks, or platforms• Breadth of experience in machine learning and AI systems architecture• Literate in semi-formal semantics • Excellent communication skills and technical documentation abilities
Preferred Qualifications• Publications (formal or informal) in AI alignment, AI safety, or related research areas• Familiarity with varied multi-objective optimization techniques• Experience with contextual pragmatics and/or constraint satisfaction problems• Developed novel multi-agent architectures• Experience with LLMs and integrating them into agent architectures• Experience with distributed systems and platform development• Knowledge of security and privacy methods for multi-party computation• Understanding of basic game theory and/or social choice theory concepts• Familiarity with metacognitive systems, metareasoning, or dynamical cognitive approaches• Demonstrable open source project contributions• Experience building systems that actively manage trade-offs between competing objectives
CARMA/SEE is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We will not discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, sex, age, religion, gender reassignment, partnership status, maternity, or sexual orientation. We are, by policy and action, an inclusive organization and actively promote equal opportunities for all humans with the right mix of talent, knowledge, skills, attitude, and potential, so hiring is only based on individual merit for the job. Our organization operates through a fiscal sponsor whose infrastructure only supports persons authorized to work in the U.S. as employees. Candidates outside the U.S. would be engaged as independent contractors with project-focused responsibilities. Note that we are unable to sponsor visas at this time.
About CARMAThe Center for AI Risk Management & Alignment (CARMA) works to help society navigate the complex and potentially catastrophic risks arising from increasingly powerful AI systems. Our mission is specifically to lower the risks to humanity and the biosphere from transformative AI.We focus on grounding AI risk management in rigorous analysis, developing policy frameworks that squarely address AGI, advancing technical safety approaches, and fostering global perspectives on durable safety. Through these complementary approaches, CARMA aims to provide critical support to society for managing the outsized risks from advanced AI before they materialize.CARMA is a fiscally-sponsored project of Social & Environmental Entrepreneurs, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit public benefit corporation.
Responsibilities• Research and develop AI systems and platforms variously for: safety research, internal tooling, and safety community support• Design and implement architectures for agent execution environments and interaction platforms• Develop optimization algorithms for multi-objective and cooperative AI systems• Create mechanisms for conflict resolution and preference aggregation in multi-agent settings• Implement testing frameworks and example environments to validate theoretical approaches• Build middleware components that facilitate secure and efficient agent communication• Architect and develop reusable software components for AI alignment research• Document system architectures, APIs, and implementation details• Collaborate on technical publications and research presentations• Contribute to both practical implementations and theoretical research in AI alignment• Support the evaluation and refinement of research prototypes
Required Qualifications• MS or PhD in Computer Science, AI, or related field (or equivalent experience)• Experience with one or preferrably more of: dynamic plan recognition, activity recognition, dynamic multicriteria decision making, multi-agent systems, or AI builder platforms• Strong programming skills in both Python and Java• Demonstrated ability to relatively independently drive technical projects from concept to implementation• Familiarity with techniques for AI alignment, control, safety, or related research areas• Experience developing middleware, frameworks, or platforms• Breadth of experience in machine learning and AI systems architecture• Literate in semi-formal semantics • Excellent communication skills and technical documentation abilities
Preferred Qualifications• Publications (formal or informal) in AI alignment, AI safety, or related research areas• Familiarity with varied multi-objective optimization techniques• Experience with contextual pragmatics and/or constraint satisfaction problems• Developed novel multi-agent architectures• Experience with LLMs and integrating them into agent architectures• Experience with distributed systems and platform development• Knowledge of security and privacy methods for multi-party computation• Understanding of basic game theory and/or social choice theory concepts• Familiarity with metacognitive systems, metareasoning, or dynamical cognitive approaches• Demonstrable open source project contributions• Experience building systems that actively manage trade-offs between competing objectives
CARMA/SEE is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We will not discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, sex, age, religion, gender reassignment, partnership status, maternity, or sexual orientation. We are, by policy and action, an inclusive organization and actively promote equal opportunities for all humans with the right mix of talent, knowledge, skills, attitude, and potential, so hiring is only based on individual merit for the job. Our organization operates through a fiscal sponsor whose infrastructure only supports persons authorized to work in the U.S. as employees. Candidates outside the U.S. would be engaged as independent contractors with project-focused responsibilities. Note that we are unable to sponsor visas at this time.