About Pratham International

Pratham International is a US 501(c)(3) established to support learning innovations for children and youth in contexts across the globe. We enable the adaptation and spread of proven and scalable education solutions pioneered in India by Pratham Education Foundation to contexts across the global south through programming and technical assistance tailored to local realities.  Today, Pratham reaches approximately 7.5 million children annually across 23 Indian states and union territories and an additional 1 million across 31 countries..

Through the Pratham Shah PraDigi Innovation Centre (PraDigi), Pratham International also seeks to create technology innovations for low-resource communities, and support models aimed at learning for school, work, and life for children and youth. We work on several cutting-edge projects in the domain of Generative AI, Automatic Speech Recognition, and Natural Language Processing. 

The team’s innovative technology products include the Anytime Testing Model (ATM), an AI-enabled question generation and grading system that allows learners to be assessed on any topic, anytime; PadhAI: Reading Assessment App, which uses advanced speech recognition to evaluate children’s reading fluency in Hindi and eight Indian languages; and a suite of LLM-powered chatbots designed for diverse learning contexts: from BaalSakhi for early childhood care, to a skilling interview bot for youth employment readiness, and OCR-based analysis tools that digitize and assess student work at scale. 

At Pratham International, we build for the long term. Whether it’s ensuring products are truly accessible across rural India and the global south through languages, building datasets to ensure context and accuracy for products, or gathering feedback from the field.   Backed by partners like Google.org, Anthropic, and the Gates Foundation, we are committed to building digital public goods that ensure every child is in school and learning well.

Description of the Role

Pratham International, through its wholly-owned subsidiary in India (PULS Pvt. Ltd.), is looking to hire an AI Engineer for the PraDigi Initiative. 

As an AI Engineer, you will lead the development and deployment of AI systems that directly support learners and teachers in the field. Your work will ensure that our digital solutions are accurate, safe, and effective across diverse global contexts.

The AI Engineer will support with: 

1. Model Development & LLM Engineering

• Context-Aware Learning: Design and optimize RAG architectures using vector databases to provide contextually relevant responses for our educational bots.
• Model Adaptation: Lead the fine-tuning of open-source models (such as Llama 3 or Mistral) for educational use, focusing on pedagogical safety and instructional accuracy.
• Rigorous Evaluation: Develop systematic benchmarking and evaluation frameworks to minimize hallucinations and ensure our tools meet Pratham’s high standards for learning content.

1. ASR & NLP for Diverse Languages

• Multilingual Speech: Adapt Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) models to handle the complexities of regional accents and "code-switching" (e.g., Hinglish) across the Indian and African contexts.
• Optimizing for the Field: Use techniques like quantization and knowledge distillation to ensure models run efficiently on mid-range devices and in low-bandwidth environments.

1. Engineering & Data Strategy

• Reliable Deployment: Build and manage robust CI/CD pipelines for machine learning, deploying across platforms like AWS Bedrock, Azure OpenAI, or Google Vertex AI.
• Educational Metrics: Create automated suites to measure model performance using custom rubrics for educational tone, accuracy, and toxicity.
• Data Innovation: Design labeling workflows and synthetic data generation to improve our models for under-represented languages where data is scarce.

• Creativity and innovation: Tackle diverse and complex problems with creative execution 

Research & Communication: Keeping up to date with the latest research and the ability to present findings to a variety of audiences

Desired Experience and Qualification

We are looking for people who have worked on Data Science projects using machine learning and deep learning and have an orientation towards research.  Applied skills are important.

• A Degree in any Mathematics/Computer Science/Data Science or related STEM field
• 5-7 years of full-time experience; atleast 3 working in an AI/ML role

Generative AI: Practical experience in using Generative AI endpoints for applications like chatbots, content generation, and OCR, and integrating APIs for text, image, or speech generation

• RAG Frameworks: Proficient in implementing Retrieval-Augmented Generation frameworks to enhance AI response accuracy and relevance.
• Prompt Engineering: Ability to create effective prompts to guide AI models and run iterative experiments to optimize prompt quality
• Cloud AI Platforms: Proficient in deploying and managing ML models using AWS Bedrock, Azure OpenAI, and Google Vertex AI Studio

Why join us?

• Impact at a Global Scale: Your work will directly support the learning journeys of millions of children. With programs active in 31 countries, you will help build Digital Public Goods that bridge the gap for the millions of children across the Global South who still struggle with foundational literacy.
• Unique Technical Challenges: We apply advanced machine learning where it is needed most. You will solve "last-mile" problems—such as training ASR models on children's voices and optimizing LLMs for offline, low-bandwidth environments—that are rarely addressed in the commercial sector.
• A Culture of Growth and Evidence: At Pratham, we value rigorous testing and continuous learning. You will have the autonomy to experiment with the latest SOTA models, supported by a 5-year strategic roadmap and funding from partners like the Gates Foundation and Anthropic.
• High-Calibre, Mission-Driven Team: You will work alongside a global team of experts from institutions like MIT, Harvard, and INSEAD. Our alumni have gone on to lead successful startups and international policy shifts, all while remaining dedicated to the goal of "Every Child in School and Learning Well."
• Inclusive and Collaborative Environment: Join a diverse team that spans Asia, Africa, and Latin America. We value innovative thinking and local expertise, ensuring that the technology we build is deeply rooted in the realities of the communities we serve.

Employment Details 

• Contract Type: Full-Time Employment
• Date of Joining: Immediate
• Work from Anywhere in India: We offer a flexible, remote-first work environment for candidates based anywhere in India. While you have the autonomy to work from where you are most productive, you will have the unique opportunity to travel to our field locations periodically. These visits are essential to see your models in the hands of learners and to gather the real-world feedback that drives our innovation.

Competitive Remuneration: Salary is benchmarked against industry standards for AI roles and is commensurate with experience. As a global organization, we are committed to providing a package that recognizes the high-market value of your technical expertise alongside the deep social impact of your work.