Research Engineer I (Computer Science / Artificial Intelligence / Cyber Security)

Nanyang Technological University Singapore; Singapore; On-site; SGD 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

The Alibaba-NTU Global e‑Sustainability CorpLab (ANGEL) at NTU Singapore is seeking a Research Engineer to advance trustworthy AI and cyber‑security research, focusing on the runtime safety of autonomous coding agents. You will contribute to safe reinforcement learning for coding agents operating in long‑horizon, executable repository‑and‑shell environments.

Join a collaboration supported by the Singapore RIE2025 Fund to build secure, reliable AI agent ecosystems, construct RL training datasets,

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in CS, AI, cyber security, or related field.
• Research or applied experience in reinforcement learning, AI safety, or coding agents.
• Interest in LLM-based coding agents, agent harnesses, and tool/terminal execution.
• Familiarity with RL training pipelines, datasets, or sandboxed execution; PyTorch is a plus.
• Proficiency in Python and shell/Linux environments; ability to contribute to academic writing.

Responsibilities

• Assist research on safety alignment of executable coding agents using reinforcement learning in long-horizon environments.
• Support construction of RL training datasets by collecting and organizing coding-agent trajectories.
• Assist in implementing agent-safety RL training using base models from the Qwen3.5 family.
• Help build and maintain sandbox environments for trajectory sampling, training, and evaluation.
• Support evaluation of safety improvements and utility preservation, including experiments and reporting results.
• Support manuscript preparation and grant-related documentation.

Skills

Reinforcement learning

Python

Linux shell

AI safety

Research writing

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/AI/Cyber Security or related field

Tools

PyTorch

Job description

The Alibaba-NTU Global e‑Sustainability CorpLab (ANGEL) represents a key collaboration between Alibaba Group and Nanyang Technological University (NTU). Supported by the Singapore RIE2025 Fund, ANGEL creates and deploys impactful green digital technologies for global sustainability.

ANGEL’s mission aligns seamlessly with Singapore’s national objectives, such as the Singapore Green Plan 2030 and the Singapore Smart Nation Initiative. ANGEL’s work in developing sustainable and equitable digital solutions and promoting a sustainable and green lifestyle will contribute to a smaller carbon footprint. Its holistic approach will help to secure a brighter, more sustainable future for humanity.

ANGEL will also cultivate human talents equipped with advanced technical skills and a solid understanding of sustainable practices, enabling Singapore to realise its environmental and technological ambitions.

We are seeking to appoint a Research Engineer who will contribute to NTU’s mission of advancing trustworthy AI and cyber‑security research, focusing on the runtime safety of autonomous coding agents. The Research Assistant will support ongoing research on safe reinforcement learning for coding agents operating in long‑horizon, executable repository‑and‑shell environments, assist in constructing RL training datasets, implementing safety‑alignment training, and evaluating agent safety and effectiveness. The role will contribute to NTU’s strategic initiatives in building secure, reliable, and resilient AI agent ecosystems, while supporting collaborations across academia and industry under the guidance of senior researchers.

Key Responsibilities

• Assist in conducting research on safety alignment of executable coding agents using reinforcement learning in long‑horizon repository‑and‑shell environments.
• Support the construction of RL training datasets by collecting, synthesising, and organising coding‑agent trajectories, including benign and safety‑critical scenarios.
• Support the implementation of agent‑safety RL training for SWE‑agent‑like coding agents using base models from the Qwen3.5 family.
• Assist in building and maintaining controlled sandbox environments for trajectory sampling, training, and evaluation.
• Support the evaluation of safety improvement and utility preservation, including running experiments and summarising results.
• Support manuscript preparation and assist in proposal and grant‑related documentation.

Requirements

• A Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Cyber Security, or a related discipline.
• Research or applied experience in reinforcement learning, LLM training, AI safety, or coding agents through coursework, projects, internships, or research activities.
• Basic experience with or strong interest in LLM‑based coding agents, agent harnesses, and tool/terminal execution.
• Knowledge of RL training pipelines, dataset construction, or sandboxed execution environments; familiarity with PyTorch is an advantage.
• Proficiency in Python, with familiarity with shell/Linux environments.
• Ability to support academic writing and research outputs for international conferences.