Staff Research Engineer – Frontier AI & Reinforcement Learning | US & Canada | $57/Hour

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Staff Research Engineer – Frontier AI and Reinforcement Learning (US & Canada)

Help advance frontier AI through research, machine learning, and reinforcement learning engineering.

An exciting remote freelance opportunity is available for experienced research engineers to work on frontier AI systems, synthetic and agentic data, reinforcement learning, model evaluation, post-training, and AI research.

The role involves investigating important AI research questions, developing research-grade prototypes, evaluating models, and helping transform validated research findings into scalable AI systems.

Job Overview

  • Job Title: Staff Research Engineer – Frontier AI and Reinforcement Learning
  • Location: United States and Canada
  • Work Type: Remote
  • Category: Engineering
  • Job Type: Freelance / Contractor
  • Pay Rate: $57 USD per hour
  • Experience: 5–10 years listed; 7+ years required in the job description
  • Project Duration: 3 months
  • Working Hours: At least 40 hours per week
  • Daily Commitment: 8 hours per day
  • Timezone: 4 hours of daily overlap with Pacific Time
  • Start: Immediate start

About the Role

Advance frontier AI through research and engineering across synthetic and agentic data, reinforcement learning, post-training, model understanding, benchmarks, and evaluation.

You will investigate high-impact research questions, build prototypes, develop experiments, and help turn validated findings into practical and scalable AI systems.

Key Responsibilities

  • Investigate frontier-model capabilities, limitations, and training methods.
  • Formulate research questions and explore new AI approaches.
  • Build research datasets, experiments, prototypes, tooling, and evaluation frameworks.
  • Train, test, and evaluate models using modern machine learning tools.
  • Analyze research results with scientific rigor, reproducibility, and evidence-based interpretation.
  • Improve research hypotheses through experimentation and validated findings.
  • Collaborate with Research, Engineering, Product, and Operations teams.
  • Translate research findings into practical AI systems.
  • Communicate findings through technical reports, publications, open-source work, and research forums where appropriate.
  • Contribute to peer review, mentorship, and technical leadership.

Required Experience and Qualifications

  • 7+ years of professional experience with significant research engineering experience in machine learning or frontier AI systems.
  • PhD or Master's degree in AI, Machine Learning, Computer Science, or a closely related technical field, or exceptional equivalent research experience.
  • Strong machine learning foundations.
  • Experience designing experiments, training or evaluating models, or developing AI systems.
  • Research experience in at least one relevant area listed below.
  • Strong Python programming skills.
  • Experience implementing, testing, and iterating with modern ML frameworks and tools.
  • Scientific judgment, reproducible research methods, and attention to data quality.
  • Strong written and verbal communication skills.
  • Ability to work independently and collaborate across teams.
  • Experience mentoring engineers or researchers and providing technical leadership.

Relevant Research Areas

  • Synthetic or agentic data generation
  • Reinforcement Learning
  • AI Post-Training
  • Model Understanding
  • AI Evaluation and Benchmarks
  • Tool-Using AI Agents

Top Skills

  • Python
  • Machine Learning
  • Research Engineering
  • Reinforcement Learning
  • AI Model Training and Evaluation

Project Details and Selection Process

  • Expected project duration: 3 months.
  • Immediate start.
  • At least 40 hours per week.
  • Eight hours per day.
  • Four hours of daily Pacific Time overlap are required.
  • Client AI interview: approximately 20 minutes.
  • Technical delivery interview: approximately 45–60 minutes.
  • Include your LinkedIn profile URL in your resume.

Who Should Apply?

This opportunity is suitable for experienced machine learning researchers and research engineers with strong Python skills, advanced AI knowledge, research experience, and a background in areas such as reinforcement learning, AI post-training, synthetic data, or model evaluation.

Location and Compensation

This remote opportunity is open only to candidates in the United States and Canada.

Compensation: $57 USD per hour.

Applicants must also meet the required working hours and daily Pacific Time overlap.

How to Apply

Apply through the original job listing. Include your LinkedIn profile URL in your resume and prepare for the client AI interview and technical delivery interview.

Application link: No direct application URL was included in the supplied job details. Use the original listing to access the application.

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