About Laude

Laude Institute is a nonprofit research organization built by and for computer scientists who ship.
We back impact-driven researchers turning breakthrough ideas into open-weight models, open-source infrastructure, and real-world tools. Our goal is to accelerate the most important research and get it into people’s hands faster.

We are funded by individual technologists and anchored by a $100M commitment from Andy Konwinski. Our team and community include AI unicorn founders and researchers from the most advanced labs in the world.

About the role

You'll join our Research team as a Member of Technical Staff with the specialty of Research Engineer. 

Laude Institute systematically identifies projects with potential for outsized real-world impact and supercharges them with a variety of resources. One of those resources is hands-on technical leadership from in-house research engineers.

In this role, you will help to identify teams & projects that have headliner or startup potential and dive in as a core contributor or co-lead for 1-6 months at a time. You will work with teams of researchers from top universities, industry labs, and research institutes, with a focus on converting novel research into tangible artifacts that the world can interact with and build on. 

This role may be a fit for you if:

• You have a research background, but you prefer shipping code to papers
• You have interest in starting your own company someday and welcome the chance to build muscle and reputation repeatedly shipping open-source, research-backed products that get traction and buzz
• The thought of working in new research areas and with new collaborators at top universities and labs every 1-6 months excites you
• You’re comfortable leading projects — you can convert half-formed ideas and promising early results into a project plan and target outcomes that inspire a diverse team
• You’re also comfortable not leading projects — you have the emotional intelligence to influence without authority, steering projects to better outcomes even when you’re not formally “in charge”

Example projects:

1. Building a flexible environment and evaluation for measuring AI agents’ ability to complete diverse tasks in a terminal environment (i.e., Terminal Bench).
2. Building an open-source stack (both specialized libraries and integrations between them) for creating frontier-quality AI models.
3. Building AI agents that can complete long-horizon scientific research in specific domains.
   
   

Required Qualifications:

• 5+ years of AI research engineering experience with state-of-the-art systems
• Proficiency in Python
• Familiarity with modern AI concepts, trends, and libraries
• Ability to work independently and solve complex challenges
• Ability and willingness to learn new technologies as needed
• Located in the San Francisco Bay Area with the ability to work a hybrid schedule requiring 3 days/wk in-office

Nice-to-have:

• PhD in Machine Learning, Computer Science, or related areas
• Experience with agent-based AI systems and multi-modal model development
• Experience in fast-paced startup environments
• Track record of translating research into production systems
  
  

Why Join Us?

• Work on high-impact AI-driven solutions.
• Work with established leaders in the field of CS research (unicorn founders, star professors and students at top schools and research institutes, etc.)
• Build your personal brand and skills repeatedly shipping open source artifacts that capture public attention
• Salary range: $150,000–$300,000 plus equity based on experience
• Comprehensive health, dental, vision, and life insurance
• 401(k)
• Unlimited PTO
• Paid parental leave