Applied Researcher

NextGenEnergyJobs; Seattle (WA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

NextGenEnergyJobs is seeking a PhD-level researcher specializing in Vision-Language Models and Vision-Language-Action to lead architectural exploration and bridge theory with production-ready systems.

You will mentor a skilled engineering team and redesign architectures to leverage high-performance computing environments such as Aurora, driving practical, scalable solutions.

Qualifications

• PhD in AI, CS, or robotics from a top-tier research background.
• Deep expertise in Vision-Language Models (VLM) and Vision-Language-Action (VLA).
• Hands-on experience with identifying failure points in architectures and debugging.
• Ability to translate complex papers into production-ready code.

Responsibilities

• Architectural exploration of VLM/VLA architectures for problem sets.
• Provide technical mentorship to an engineering team.
• Bridge theory and practical, scalable implementations.
• Redesign and optimize model architectures for HPC environments like Aurora.

Skills

VLM/VLA expertise

Python programming

Modern C++

Model architecture design

Mentorship & collaboration

Education

PhD in AI/CS/Robotics

Tools

Aurora HPC

Job description

At the core of everything we do is our commitment to safety.

Key Responsibilities

• Architectural Exploration: Deep dive into VLM/VLA architectures to determine their viability for our specific problem sets.
• Technical Mentorship: Act as the subject matter expert and guide for an exceptionally capable engineering team eager to move into this space.
• Practical Implementation: Bridge the gap between high-level academic theory and practical, scalable applications.
• Innovation: Redesign and optimize model architectures to leverage high-performance computing environments like Aurora.

Requirements

• PhD Graduate in AI, Computer Science, or Robotics (Top-tier research lab background)
• Deep expertise in Vision-Language Models (VLM) and Vision-Language-Action (VLA) models
• Hands‑on experience with 'jagged edges'—knowing where current architectures fail and how to troubleshoot them
• Practical researcher: Ability to translate complex papers into production‑ready code
• Collaborative Guide: Willingness to mentor existing team members and bridge the knowledge gap
• Excitement for large‑scale infrastructure and supercomputing environments (e.g., Aurora)
• Architectural Creativity: Ability to rethink and redo entire model architectures rather than just fine‑tuning
• Strong programming skills in Python
• Preference for strong depth programming in modern C++