AI research engineer

Thomson Reuters; Slough; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading information services company is seeking a Research Engineer to innovate in key AI areas. You'll lead research projects, develop evaluation frameworks, and publish findings to enhance understanding and applications of AI technologies. Ideal candidates have over 5 years in AI/ML and a solid academic background. This role emphasizes practical application of research insights in collaboration with engineering and product teams, ensuring impactful contributions to AI evolution.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of engineering experience with significant AI/ML focus.
• Strong engineering fundamentals implemented in production environments.
• Understanding of AI safety, reliability, and alignment.

Responsibilities

• Lead independent research projects in AI evaluation methodologies.
• Contribute to the academic AI community through publications.
• Mentor team members on advanced AI concepts.

Skills

AI/ML engineering experience

Research experience

Strong communication skills

Knowledge of LLM evaluation methodologies

Self-motivation

Software development

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent practical experience

Job description

We're seeking a Research Engineer to conduct innovative research in key AI areas including evaluation methodologies (particularly those grounded in human data), alignment techniques, and synthetic data generation. You'll bridge the gap between cutting‑edge AI research and practical applications, helping to translate research insights into valuable products and services. As part of our commitment to contribute to the wider AI community, you'll be involved in writing papers that advance the field. Your work will directly impact how we understand, evaluate, and improve AI systems through high‑quality human data.

Responsibilities

• Lead independent research projects in AI evaluation methodologies, alignment techniques, and synthetic data generation.
• Design and implement novel evaluation frameworks for LLMs and agent systems that are grounded in human data.
• Contribute to the academic AI community through publications and open‑source contributions.
• Stay at the forefront of AI research and pioneer innovative approaches to tackle pressing open challenges in the field.
• Design and conduct rigorous experiments to study AI models and systems with sound methodological approaches.
• Develop scalable frameworks for systematic evaluation of model behaviours and capabilities.
• Create tools and frameworks that transform research insights into practical applications.
• Build infrastructure to support large‑scale research experiments when needed.
• Apply knowledge of model fine‑tuning, optimization techniques, distillation, and other ML engineering practices to support research goals.
• Work closely with ML engineers, data scientists, and product teams to translate research insights into practical applications.
• Mentor team members on advanced AI concepts and emerging research directions.
• Communicate complex technical concepts to diverse stakeholders.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of engineering experience with significant AI/ML focus.
• Demonstrated research experience through publications, open‑source contributions, or impactful projects.
• Strong engineering fundamentals and experience implementing AI systems in production environments.
• Deep knowledge of LLM evaluation methodologies, alignment techniques, and model optimization approaches.
• Experience with model fine‑tuning, adapters, quantization, and distillation frameworks.
• Self‑motivation and ability to define and pursue research directions independently.
• Excellent understanding of current challenges in AI safety, reliability, and alignment.
• Strong communication skills and ability to explain complex research concepts clearly.
• Passion for staying current with the rapidly evolving AI research landscape.
• Minimum qualifications: Bachelor’s degree or equivalent practical experience.
• 5 years of experience with software development in one or more programming languages.
• 3 years of experience in speech/audio or related domains (if applicable).