APPLIED RESEARCH SCIENTIST

Kiddom; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 130,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

Kiddom seeks a Research Scientist, Machine Learning to advance AI in K-12 education. Leveraging expertise in machine learning, you will design and implement innovative solutions that enhance learning experiences. Your contributions will support the use of AI for personalized teaching, significantly impacting educators and students across the nation.

Benefits

Meaningful equity

Health benefits (medical, dental, vision)

Unlimited vacation time

Paid family leave

10 paid sick days per year

Qualifications

• PhD or postdoctoral research in ML or AI.
• Experience with ML frameworks is essential.
• Knowledge of LLMs and RAG pipelines preferred.

Responsibilities

• Design and deploy scalable ML models for education.
• Optimize performance of ML systems.
• Work with cross-functional teams on product integration.

Skills

ML and deep learning frameworks

Fine-tuning LLMs

NLP

Application of generative AI

Education

PhD in Machine Learning, Computer Science, or related field

Tools

PyTorch

TensorFlow

Job description

Research Scientist, Machine Learning (PhD)

Research Scientist, Machine Learning (PhD)

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This range is provided by Kiddom. Your actual pay will be based on your skills and experience — talk with your recruiter to learn more.

Base pay range

130,000.00 / yr - $200,000.00 / yr

Additional compensation types

Stock options

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Machine Learning Researcher / Applied Research Scientist

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About Kiddom

Kiddom is a groundbreaking educational platform that promotes student equity and growth by uniting high-quality instructional materials with dynamic digital learning. Through unparalleled curriculum management functionality, Kiddom empowers schools and districts to take ownership of their curriculum – resulting in learning experiences tailored to meet the unique needs and goals of local communities. Kiddom’s high-quality curriculum is layered with robust teacher and leader data insights to drive the continuous improvement of instructional decisions, school / district programming, and professional learning.

At Kiddom, we’re transforming how teachers, students, and school systems engage with high-quality instructional materials. As we scale our platform and bring deeper personalization into the classroom, we’re investing in state-of-the-art Machine Learning to deliver timely, intelligent support for learners and educators.

About the Role

Join our mission to revolutionize K-12 education at the intersection of cutting-edge AI and impactful learning outcomes. As a Machine Learning Researcher / Applied Research Scientist , you will play a pivotal role in pushing the boundaries of what’s possible with AI in education. Your work will assist teachers by personalizing their teaching experience and improving student outcomes. This role combines technical excellence with an opportunity to make a tangible impact on the lives of educators and students nationwide.

We’re seeking a Research Scientist to drive innovation in AI / ML for K–12 education, with a special focus on large language models (LLMs), content recommendations, and intelligent tutoring experiences. This role will be pivotal in shaping how Kiddom leverages modern ML to enhance educational outcomes at scale.

What Were Looking For :

• Design, train, and deploy scalable ML models for key product areas such as personalized content recommendations, adaptive assessments, and real-time learning feedback.
• Fine-tune large language models (LLMs) for education-specific applications, such as curriculum alignment, question generation, and student response analysis.
• Build and experiment with Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) pipelines to power context-aware generative AI experiences within the Kiddom platform.
• Develop prompt engineering strategies and optimization techniques to improve LLM reliability and task-specific accuracy.
• Own the end-to-end ML lifecycle—from research and prototyping to production deployment and iteration.
• Work closely with engineers, designers, and curriculum experts to integrate intelligent systems into product workflows.
• Optimize ML systems for performance in modern environments (e.g., distributed compute, GPUs, cloud-native architectures).

Minimum Qualifications :

• Currently holds or is in the process of completing a PhD (or postdoctoral research) in Machine Learning, Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, or a related technical field.
• Proficiency with ML and deep learning frameworks such as PyTorch or TensorFlow.
• Demonstrated experience fine-tuning LLMs (e.g., GPT, LLaMA, Mistral) and working with RAG pipelines.
• Applied experience with one or more of the following : recommender systems, NLP, knowledge retrieval, or educational data modeling.
• Ability to translate research into effective, scalable product solutions.
• Authorization to work in the U.S.

Preferred Qualifications

• Research or applied experience in prompt engineering and prompt tuning for LLM-based applications.
• Track record of publications, patents, or open-source contributions in ML, NLP, or generative AI.
• Familiarity with MLOps practices, model monitoring, and lifecycle management in production environments.
• Exposure to learning science or intelligent tutoring systems.
• Strong communication skills and experience collaborating in cross-functional product teams.

Why Join Us?

• Make a Tangible Impact : Contribute to improving K-12 education by empowering teachers and enhancing student learning experiences.
• Work on Cutting-Edge AI : Dive into the latest advancements, including prompt engineering, RAG, multi-modal models, and more.
• Collaborate with Passionate Teams : Be part of a diverse team of engineers, designers, product managers, and educators who are driven to solve meaningful problems.
• Growth and Learning Opportunities : Stay at the forefront of AI research and technology in a supportive, innovative environment.

What we offer

Full time permanent employees are eligible for the following benefits :

• Meaningful equity
• Health benefits : medical (various PPO / HMO / HSA plans), dental, vision, disability and life insurance
• 10 paid sick days per year
• Unlimited vacation time policy (subject to internal approval). Average use 4 weeks off per year.
• Paid family leave for eligible employees

Kiddom policy requires employees to be vaccinated before they visit an office or attend company events..

We have remote roles but in certain positions where office attendance is deemed to be essential to the role, offers of employment shall be conditional upon proof of vaccination.

Seniority level

Seniority level

Mid-Senior level

Employment type

Employment type

Full-time

Job function

Job function

Research and Engineering

Software Development and E-Learning Providers

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Medical insurance

Vision insurance

401(k)

Paid maternity leave

Paid paternity leave

Disability insurance

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Applied Scientist • San Francisco, CA, United States