Machine Learning Research Scientist, Reasoning

At Scale AI, our mission is to accelerate the development of AI applications. For 8 years, Scale has been the leading AI data foundry, fueling the most exciting advancements in AI, including generative AI, defense applications, and autonomous vehicles. With our recent Series F round, we’re amplifying access to high-quality data to drive progress toward Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). Building on our history of model evaluation with enterprise and government customers, we are expanding our capabilities to set new standards for both public and private evaluations.

This role operates at the forefront of AI research and real-world implementation, with a strong focus on reasoning within large language models (LLMs). The ideal candidate will study the data types critical for advancing LLM-based agents, including browser and software engineering (SWE) agents. You will play a key role in shaping Scale’s data strategy by identifying the most effective data sources and methodologies for improving LLM reasoning. Success in this role requires a deep understanding of LLMs, planning algorithms, and novel approaches to agentic reasoning, as well as creativity in tackling challenges related to data generation, model interaction, and evaluation. You will contribute to impactful research on language model reasoning, collaborate with external researchers, and work closely with engineering teams to bring state-of-the-art advancements into scalable, real-world solutions.

• Practical experience working with LLMs, with proficiency in frameworks like PyTorch, JAX, or TensorFlow. You should also be skilled at rapidly interpreting research literature and turning new ideas into working prototypes.

• A track record of published research in top ML and NLP venues (e.g., ACL, EMNLP, NAACL, NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, CoLLM, etc.).

• At least three years of experience solving complex ML challenges, either in a research setting or product development, particularly in areas related to LLM capabilities and reasoning.

• Strong written and verbal communication skills, along with the ability to work effectively across teams.

• Hands-on experience fine-tuning open-source LLMs or leading bespoke LLM fine-tuning projects using PyTorch/JAX.

• Research and practical experience in building applications and evaluations related to LLM-based agents, including tool-use, text-to-SQL, browser agents, coding agents, and GUI agents.

• Experience with agent frameworks such as OpenHands, Swarm, LangGraph, or similar.

• Familiarity with advanced agentic reasoning techniques such as STaR and PLANSEARCH.

• Proficiency in cloud-based ML development, with experience in AWS or GCP environments.

Our research interviews are designed to assess candidates' ability to prototype and debug ML models, their depth of understanding in research concepts, and their alignment with our organizational culture. We do not conduct LeetCode-style problem-solving assessments. Compensation packages at Scale for eligible roles include base salary, equity, and benefits. The range displayed on each job posting reflects the minimum and maximum target for new hire salaries for the position and may be inclusive of several career levels at Scale; it will be determined during the interview process based on work location and additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, qualifications, interview performance, and relevant education or training. Scale employees in eligible roles are also granted equity based compensation, subject to Board of Director approval. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for your preferred location during the hiring process, and confirm whether the hired role will be eligible for equity grant. You'll also receive benefits including, but not limited to: comprehensive health, dental and vision coverage, retirement benefits, a learning and development stipend, and generous PTO. Additionally, this role may be eligible for additional benefits such as a commuter stipend.

Please reference the job posting's subtitle for where this position will be located. For pay transparency purposes, the base salary range for this full-time position in the locations of San Francisco, New York, Seattle is: $252,000—$315,000 USD

PLEASE NOTE: Our policy requires a 90-day waiting period before reconsidering candidates for the same role. This allows us to ensure a fair and thorough evaluation of all applicants.

At Scale, our mission is to develop reliable AI systems for the world's most important decisions. Our products provide the high-quality data and full-stack technologies that power the world's leading models, and help enterprises and governments build, deploy, and oversee AI applications that deliver real impact. We work closely with industry leaders like Meta, Ernst & Young, Mayo Clinic, Time Inc., the Government of Qatar, and U.S. government agencies including the Army and Air Force. We are expanding our team to accelerate the development of AI applications.

We believe that everyone should be able to bring their whole selves to work, which is why we are proud to be an inclusive and equal opportunity workplace. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability status, gender identity or Veteran status.

We are committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodations to applicants with physical and mental disabilities. If you need assistance and/or a reasonable accommodation in the application or recruiting process due to a disability, please contact us at accommodations@scale.com. Please see the United States Department of Labor's Know Your Rights poster for additional information.

We comply with the United States Department of Labor's Pay Transparency provision.

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