AI Lab Research Engineer

Lila; Cambridge (MA); On-site; USD 80,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

Join an innovative team at the forefront of scientific research, where cutting-edge AI meets creativity. As an AI Lab Research Engineer, you'll design and deploy advanced AI agents that tackle complex problems across various scientific domains. Collaborate with experts in biology and materials science, pushing the boundaries of what's possible in AI-driven research. This role offers a unique opportunity to contribute to meaningful discoveries and innovations that can transform the scientific method. If you're passionate about leveraging AI for impactful solutions, this is the perfect environment for you to thrive.

Qualifications

• PhD or Masters in a quantitative discipline with a strong background in machine learning.
• Experience in developing AI agents for complex scientific problems.

Responsibilities

• Develop AI agents for solving complex scientific problems through multi-step reasoning.
• Collaborate with teams to integrate AI agents into experimental workflows.

Skills

Machine Learning

Sequential Decision-Making

Problem-Solving

Domain Adaptation

Reasoning

Education

PhD in Computer Science

Masters in Engineering

Masters in Mathematics

Tools

PyTorch

TensorFlow

JAX

Job description

Lila Sciences is a privately held, early-stage technology company pioneering the application of artificial intelligence to transform every aspect of the scientific method. Lila is backed by Flagship Pioneering, which brings the courage, long-term vision, and resources needed to realize unreasonable results. Join our mission-driven team and contribute to the future of science.

Our Life Sciences effort is leveraging AI and high-throughput automation for valuable therapeutic discovery and development across biological modalities.

At Lila, we are uniquely cross-functional and collaborative. We are actively reimagining the way teams work together and communicate. Therefore, we seek individuals with an inclusive mindset and a diversity of thought. Our teams thrive in unstructured and creative environments. All voices are heard because we know that experience comes in many forms, skills are transferable, and passion goes a long way.

If this sounds like an environment you’d love to work in, even if you only have some of the experience listed below, please apply.

The Role:

Lila Sciences is at the forefront of reimagining how scientific research is conducted through cutting-edge machine learning and AI. We are seeking talented and visionary AI Lab Research Engineer with relevant experience in developing scientific AI models to tackle complex, multi-step problems across domains to join our team. Title will be determined by merit and experience level.

In this role, you will design, train, and deploy advanced AI agents capable of performing sequential decision-making, reasoning, and task completion in scientific contexts.

As an AI Lab Integration Research Engineer at Lila Sciences, you’ll work alongside experts in biology, materials science, automation, and other disciplines to push the boundaries of what’s possible with AI-driven research. You’ll play a key role in building agents that can reason, plan, and execute tasks across diverse scientific challenges, ultimately accelerating discovery and innovation.

Key Responsibilities:

• Develop AI agents capable of solving complex, domain-specific scientific problems through sequential decision-making and multi-step reasoning.
• Train and fine-tune models to adapt to specific scientific domains, ensuring robust performance on real-world research tasks.
• Implement rigorous testing frameworks and benchmarks to evaluate agent capabilities and measure progress toward scientific objectives.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to integrate AI agents into experimental workflows, enabling faster iteration and discovery in areas such as biology, chemistry, and materials science.

Qualifications:

• PhD or Masters in a quantitative discipline (e.g., Computer Science, Physics, Mathematics, Engineering) with a strong background in machine learning and one domain of science (e.g. biology or materials science).
• Strong understanding of large language models (LLMs) and their application to scientific problem-solving, with a focus on domain adaptation and task-specific fine-tuning.
• Proficiency in modern ML frameworks (e.g., PyTorch, TensorFlow, JAX) and experience implementing scalable solutions for complex tasks.

Ideal Qualifications:

• Demonstrated expertise in developing AI agents for complex, long-range tasks.
• Experience building custom benchmarks or evaluation frameworks to test agent performance on domain-specific challenges.
• Contributions to high-impact research in machine learning and AI, particularly in areas such as sequential decision-making, reasoning, or multi-step problem-solving (e.g., publications in top-tier conferences like NeurIPS, ICML, AAAI, ICLR).
• Familiarity with scientific data pipelines and workflows.

Working at Lila Sciences, you would have access to advanced technology in the areas of:

• AI experimental design and simulation
• Automated liquid handling and instrumentation

More About Flagship Pioneering

Flagship Pioneering is a platform innovation company that invents and builds platform companies, each with the potential for multiple products that transform human health or sustainability. Since its launch in 2000, Flagship has originated and fostered more than 100 scientific ventures, resulting in more than $90 billion in aggregate value. Many of the companies Flagship has founded have addressed humanity’s most urgent challenges: vaccinating billions of people against COVID-19, curing intractable diseases, improving human health, preempting illness, and feeding the world by improving the resiliency and sustainability of agriculture. Flagship has been recognized twice on FORTUNE’s “Change the World” list, an annual ranking of companies that have made a positive social and environmental impact through activities that are part of their core business strategies and has been twice named to Fast Company’s annual list of the World’s Most Innovative Companies. Learn more about Flagship at www.flagshippioneering.com.

Flagship Pioneering and our ecosystem companies are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status.

At Flagship, we recognize there is no perfect candidate. If you have some of the experience listed above but not all, please apply anyway. Experience comes in many forms, skills are transferable, and passion goes a long way. We are dedicated to building diverse and inclusive teams and look forward to learning more about your unique background.