Systems Research Engineer
At a glance
Mid-level AI Research role at Huawei R&D UK. Edinburgh · no salary stated · we estimate £31,000–£445,000 across the United Kingdom.
Huawei R&D UK has not published a salary for this role. The figure below is our estimate, not theirs.
aimlroles summary, based on the employer's posting.
What you'll do
- Find systems problems worth studying, then design and test new algorithms, infrastructure and abstractions
- Profile system bottlenecks and build techniques that raise performance, scalability, efficiency or resource use
- Prototype infrastructure for AI workloads, heterogeneous platforms, distributed data processing and cloud applications
- Develop rigorous research for leading systems conferences and assess its practical impact
- Work with researchers, architects and engineers to validate ideas and turn successful ones into infrastructure technology
What you bring
- A bachelor's or master's degree in computer science, electrical engineering or a related discipline
- Strong grounding in systems, including operating systems, distributed systems, computer architecture or cloud computing
- Proficiency in C/C++ or a comparable systems language, plus Python for experiments and prototypes
- Ability to implement systems and assess them through experiments, profiling and performance analysis
Who this fits
This mid-level role suits someone who wants to conduct original systems research and build working prototypes. You’ll collaborate in a multidisciplinary research team in Edinburgh.
From the employer
Job Vision
We are seeking Systems Research Engineers with strong computer systems fundamentals, excellent implementation skills and the ability to conduct original research. We welcome candidates from a broad range of backgrounds, including operating systems, distributed systems, cloud computing, computer architecture, networking, storage, resource scheduling and machine learning systems.
You will identify important systems research problems, develop novel solutions, build working prototypes and rigorously evaluate their performance and impact. You will work with experienced researchers and architects to produce high-quality research for leading systems conferences, while helping translate successful ideas into practical technologies.
Key Responsibilities
· Distributed Systems Research & Development: Identify novel research opportunities and design, implement and evaluate new systems, algorithms and abstractions for scalable computing infrastructure.
· Performance Optimization & Profiling: Investigate system bottlenecks and develop innovative techniques to improve performance, scalability, efficiency and resource utilisation.
· Next-Generation Infrastructure: Research and prototype solutions for emerging workloads and platforms, including heterogeneous computing, AI training and inference, distributed data processing and cloud-native applications.
· Research & Publications: Produce original, rigorous research contributions targeting leading systems conferences, including OSDI, SOSP, NSDI, EuroSys and SoCC, and relevant venues such as MLSys.
· Research Impact & Collaboration: Collaborate with researchers, architects and engineers across Huawei to validate research ideas and translate successful innovations into practical infrastructure technologies.
Person Specification
Required Qualifications and Skills:
· Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering or a related field.
· Strong foundations in computer systems, including one or more of operating systems, distributed systems, computer architecture, or cloud computing.
· Proficiency in C/C++ or a comparable systems programming language, with Python for research prototyping and experimentation.
· Ability to design, implement and evaluate systems through rigorous experimentation, performance analysis and profiling.
· Strong problem-solving skills, intellectual curiosity and an interest in conducting original systems research.
· Effective communication skills and the ability to collaborate in a multidisciplinary research team.
Desired Qualifications and Experience:
· PhD in comuter systems, distributed computing, or large-scale AI infrastructure.
· Research publications or demonstrated potential to publish at leading systems conferences, such as OSDI, SOSP, NSDI, EuroSys and SoCC.
· Experience in one or more areas such as resource scheduling, performance optimisation, heterogeneous computing or machine learning systems.
· Familiarity with AI infrastructure, including model serving, distributed training, accelerator systems or inference optimisation.