AI Safety Research Associate (Computational Linguistics/Computer Science)

Nanyang Technological University Singapore; Singapore; On-site; SGD 90,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

Nanyang Technological University Singapore (NTU) invites applications for a position hosted under AI Singapore to advance safety and alignment for LLMs in the medical domain. The role includes co-developing guardrails, analyzing failure modes in Southeast Asian languages, and expanding regional language capabilities for SEA-LION.

The candidate should have a Master in a relevant field, demonstrated safety/robustness research, strong Python/NLP skills, and experience with Ollama or vLLM.

Qualifications

• Master degree in Computational Linguistics, Computer Science, or equivalent practical experience.
• Experience in safety alignment for LLMs and robustness evaluation; publications in safety research area.
• Strong knowledge of Python and NLP concepts.
• Experience with LLM inference frameworks (i.e., Ollama or vLLM).
• Experience with Generative AI/LLMs (i.e., Llama, Gemma, Qwen) and ability to design leaderboards/visualisations.
• Good communication skills for collaborative environment.

Responsibilities

• Co-design safety and alignment strategies for LLMs in the medical domain.
• Co-develop guardrails and safeguard models.
• Assist in analysing failure modes for SEA languages and cultural contexts.
• Support development of regional language capabilities to extend SEA-LION.
• Assist in identifying culturally grounded safety risks and ensure generalisation beyond English‑centric assumptions for SEA languages and code-mixed text.
• Assist in designing leaderboards and relevant visualisations for auditable reporting of results.
• Co-authoring top-tier publications (ACL, EMNLP, NeurIPS, ICLR) to contribute novel, auditable findings.

Skills

Python

NLP concepts

Communication skills

Education

Master in Computational Linguistics

Tools

Ollama

vLLM

Job description

AI Singapore (AISG) is a national AI programme launched by the National Research Foundation (NRF), Singapore, to build and anchor deep national capabilities in AI. AISG is supported through a government‑wide partnership including the NRF, Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI), Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), Economic Development Board (EDB) and Enterprise Singapore (ESG). We bring together research institutions and the vibrant ecosystem of AI start‑ups and companies to support impactful research, develop talent, and power Singapore's AI efforts.

This position will be hosted at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) under VP (Artificial Intelligence & Digital Economy)’s office and we welcome you to join our community.

Key Responsibilities

• Co-designing and co-implementing safety and alignment strategies for LLMs in the medical domain
• Co‑developing guardrails and safeguard models
• Assist in analysing failure modes specific to Southeast Asian languages and cultural contexts
• Supporting development of regional language capabilities to extend utility of SEA‑LION for the region
• Assist in identifying culturally grounded safety risks and ensure our safety systems generalise robustly beyond English‑centric assumptions for SEA languages and code‑mixed text
• Assist in designing leaderboards and relevant visualisations for auditable reporting of results
• Co‑authoring top‑tier publications (e.g., ACL, EMNLP, NeurIPS, ICLR, etc.) to contribute novel, auditable, and reproducible findings

Job Requirements

• Preferably a Master Degree in Computational Linguistics, Computer Science, or have equivalent practical experience.
• Required experience includes safety alignment in LLMs, model evaluation for safety or robustness, and a track record of publications in the safety research area.
• Strong knowledge of Python and NLP concepts is a must.
• Experience with LLM Inference frameworks (i.e., Ollama or vLLM) is a must.
• Experience with Generative AI and LLMs (i.e., Llama, Gemma, Qwen, etc.) is a must, along with competence in designing leaderboards and visualisations.
• Good communication skills for our collaborative environment.

We regret to inform that only shortlisted candidates will be notified.

Hiring Institution: NTU