Applied AI Researcher

Clera; New York (NY); On-site; USD 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Performance bonus

Equity (0.25%–1%)

Visa sponsorship

Job summary

Clera Labs, Inc. is seeking a research engineer to advance detection of synthetic media and digital fraud. You will explore AI methods, reproduce and assess research, design experiments, and work with engineering to deploy successful approaches into production.

The role requires deep learning experience with PyTorch, strong ML foundations, and expertise in computer vision and related security domains. You will contribute to research docs and drive practical research outcomes.

Qualifications

• MS or PhD in computer science, electrical engineering, or related field, or equivalent research experience.
• Strong ML foundations and experience building, training, evaluating models.
• Knowledge of computer vision: CNNs and vision transformers; tradeoffs at small params.
• Experience in synthetic media detection, image/video forensics, audio spoofing, generative models, or adversarial robustness.
• Ability to critically assess papers, design experiments, and turn research into shipped software.
• Evidence of research and engineering ability through production systems, publications, or open-source work.

Responsibilities

• Investigate AI methods for synthetic media detection, media forensics, and fraud prevention.
• Read and reproduce research, then assess approaches worth pursuing.
• Design experiments, establish baselines, and evaluate models on realistic data.
• Implement research ideas and collaborate with engineering to productionize approaches.
• Analyze failure cases and improve model reliability, generalization, and efficiency.
• Document methods and findings, contribute to technical writing, and prioritize research around practical needs.

Skills

PyTorch

Machine learning foundations

Computer vision (CNNs, vision tranform

Education

MS/PhD in CS/EE or equivalent

Job description

About the Role

Join a small research and engineering team at a digital trust and security company. You will investigate methods for detecting synthetic media and digital fraud, then help translate effective research into production software.

What You'll Do

• Investigate AI methods for synthetic media detection, media forensics, and fraud prevention.

• Read and reproduce research, then assess which approaches are worth pursuing.

• Design experiments, establish baselines, and evaluate models on realistic data.

• Implement research ideas and collaborate with engineering to bring successful approaches into production.

• Analyze failure cases and improve model reliability, generalization, and computational efficiency.

• Document methods and findings, contribute to technical writing, and prioritize research around practical needs.

What We're Looking For

• At least 3 years of experience training deep learning models in PyTorch, including taking at least one model from concept to production.

• An MS or PhD in computer science, electrical engineering, or a related field, or equivalent research experience.

• Strong machine learning foundations and experience building, training, and evaluating models.

• Computer vision knowledge, including CNNs and vision transformers, and the tradeoffs between them at small parameter counts.

• Experience in at least one relevant area: synthetic media detection, image or video forensics, audio spoofing detection, generative models, or adversarial robustness.

• Ability to critically assess research papers, design experiments, communicate findings clearly, and turn research into shipped software.

• Evidence of research and engineering ability through production systems, publications, open-source work, or substantial applied projects.

Compensation & Benefits

Base salary is flexible based on experience and candidacy. The package includes a performance bonus and 0.25% to 1% equity. Visa sponsorship is available.

Location

On-site in New York, New York, United States.