Research Engineer

Oxford Dynamics Limited; Oxford; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Rapid career progression with core-own

Conference and tool budget

Flexible, hybrid working model

Company pension (NEST, 4% employer)

Private healthcare

29 days holiday + public holidays

Job summary

Oxford Dynamics Limited is seeking a Research Engineer to bridge frontier machine-learning research with shipped product in Oxford. You will take ideas from RL, RLHF, and LLM post-training and turn them into capabilities that improve our platforms.

You will read the literature, prototype quickly, and see your work through into production, aligning with OD’s product vision and customer needs.

Qualifications

• PhD in AI/ML or postdoc in ML.
• Strong grounding in ML and reinforcement learning including RLHF.
• Hands-on experience with multi-objective policy optimisation.
• Solid knowledge of transformer architectures and LLM post-training.
• Publications at top AI conferences (e.g., ICML/NeurIPS/ICLR).
• Experience using HPCs and CUDA for training large-scale models.
• Ability to translate research into a product vision and delivery.

Responsibilities

• Apply and adapt ML/RL research to OD’s product roadmap, turning research into shippable capabilities.
• Design, train and evaluate models using RLHF and multi-objective optimization, balancing accuracy, safety, latency, and cost.
• Work on LLM post-training: fine-tuning, alignment, reward modelling and rigorous evaluation.
• Prototype quickly, then collaborate with engineering to productionise.
• Define evaluation methods for frontier models and auditing of decisions.
• Engage with customers and stakeholders, explaining approaches to non-specialists and feeding real-world needs back into research.
• Help shape OD’s research and product vision and future direction.

Skills

Machine Learning

Reinforcement Learning

RLHF

Multi-objective optimization

Transformer architectures

Communication

Education

PhD in AI/ML

Tools

CUDA

HPCs

Job description

Role

Research Engineer

Salary

Competitive

Contract

Perm

Location

Oxford

The Role

As our Research Engineer, you will sit at the boundary between frontier machine‑learning research and shipped product. You will take ideas from the research edge, reinforcement learning, RLHF, multi‑objective policy optimisation and LLM post‑training, and turn them into capabilities that make our platforms measurably better.

This is a Research Engineer role. You will read the literature, prototype quickly, and see your work through into systems our customers depend on, while connecting that research to OD’s product vision and to what our customers actually need.

Responsibilities

• Apply and adapt machine‑learning and reinforcement‑learning research to OD’s product roadmap, translating research direction into shippable capability.
• Design, train and evaluate models using reinforcement learning, RLHF and multi‑objective policy optimisation, balancing competing objectives such as accuracy, safety, latency and cost.
• Work on LLM post‑training: fine‑tuning, alignment, reward modelling and rigorous evaluation.
• Prototype fast, then work with the engineering teams to harden what works into production.
• Define how frontier models can be evaluated and how decision making can be audited.
• Engage directly with customers and stakeholders, explaining technical approaches to non‑specialists and feeding real‑world needs back into the research agenda.
• Help shape OD’s research and product vision, bringing a clear point of view on where the field is heading and what OD should build next.

Requirements

• PhD in AI, machine learning or a closely related field, or holding a current postdoctoral research position in Machine Learning.
• Strong grounding in Machine Learning and reinforcement learning, including RLHF.
• Hands‑on experience with multi‑objective policy optimisation.
• Solid knowledge of transformer architectures and LLM post‑training (fine‑tuning, alignment, reward modelling).
• Publications at top‑tier AI conferences such as ICML, ICLR, NeurIPS, CVPR, etc.
• Experience using HPCs and CUDA for training large‑scale models.
• The ability to translate research into a product vision and carry it through to delivery.

Nice to have

• Computer vision experience.
• Open‑source contributions.
• Applied research that shipped into a product.

Soft skills

• Commercial thinking: an instinct for connecting research effort to product value and customer impact, rather than research for its own sake.
• Communication and client‑facing skills: able to explain complex ideas clearly to both technical and non‑technical audiences, including customers.
• Calm, judgement‑led decision making: and comfort operating in ambiguity with fast‑moving priorities.

Why Oxford Dynamics?

Join the most exciting growth area in the UK: AI and Robotics. Every member of the team has a major impact on the products and services we provide. Regardless of job title, you’ll get to make a real difference and learn from colleagues about all areas of our business.

Benefits

• Rapid career progression with meaningful ownership of core systems.
• Conference and tool budget.
• Flexible, hybrid working model.
• Company pension (NEST, 4% employer contribution).
• Private healthcare.
• 29 days holiday plus public holidays.

Oxford Dynamics is committed to creating an inclusive team experience for all. Regardless of race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, age, disability, or parental status, we believe our work is at its best when everyone feels free to be their authentic self.