Applied Scientist

Mistral; Palo Alto (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Mistral AI is seeking Applied Scientists and Research Engineers to drive innovative research and collaborate with clients on complex projects.

You will develop SOTA models across modalities (text, image, speech); create novel methods; and work with cross-functional teams to deliver high-impact AI solutions.

This role rewards self-starters who write clean Python and contribute to large codebases, with a collaborative environment and opportunities to publish.

Qualifications

• Excellent communication skills suitable for cross-audience.
• Expertise in PyTorch or JAX.
• Strong Python coding skills.
• Ability to work independently with minimal guidance.
• Collaborative and eager to learn.
• Proven track record through projects or academia.

Responsibilities

• Run preprocessing, training, and evaluation of SOTA models across modalities.
• Develop and implement novel methods for multi-modal AI tasks.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams including engineers and product
• Contribute to data collection, tooling, and deployment pipelines.
• Communicate research results and impact to clients and stakeholders.

Skills

PyTorch or JAX

Python programming

Communication skills

Independent / self-driven

Collaborative

Research experience

Education

PhD or MSc in Mathematics/Physics/ML/CS & Engineering

Job description

About Mistral

Mistral provides full-stack AI solutions: from frontier models to developer tools, applications, and compute. We partner with enterprises tackling the hardest problems—across high-stakes industries like finance, manufacturing, defense, healthcare, and the public sector—co-creating customized AI systems that they can run on their terms.

We are a dynamic, collaborative team passionate about AI and its potential to transform society. Our diverse workforce thrives in competitive environments and is committed to driving innovation. Our teams are distributed between Europe, North America, Asia and the Middle East. We are creative, low-ego and team-spirited.

The Role

Mistral AI is seeking Applied Scientists and Research Engineers to drive innovative research and collaborate with clients on complex research projects.

You will develop SOTA models across different modalities such as text, image, and speech. By developing novel methods and research ideas you will apply these models across a diverse set of use cases and domains. Working cross-functionally with both external and internal science, engineering, and product teams you will deliver high-impact AI solutions that turn the needle.

What you will do

• Run pre-training, post-training and deploy state of the art models on clusters with thousands of GPUs. You don’t panic when you see OOM errors or when NCCL feels like not wanting to talk.
• Generate and curate data for pre-training and post-training, working on evaluations and making sure the model’s performance beats expectations.
• Develop the necessary tools and frameworks to facilitate data generation, model training, evaluation and deployment.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to tackle complex use cases using agents and RAG pipelines.
• Manage research projects and communications with client research teams.

What We're Looking For

• You have excellent communication skills. You are at ease explaining complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• You’re an expert with PyTorch or JAX.
• You’re not afraid of contributing to a big codebase and can find yourself around independently with little guidance.
• You write clean, readable, high-performance, fault-tolerant Python code.
• You don’t need roadmaps: you just do. You don’t need a manager: you just ship.
• Low-ego, collaborative and eager to learn.
• You have a track record of success through personal projects, professional projects or in academia.

Nice to have

• Hold a PhD / master in a relevant field (e.g., Mathematics, Physics, Machine Learning, Computer Science & Engineering), but if you’re an exceptional candidate from a different background, you should apply.
• Can bring a variety of research experience (agents, multi-modality, robotics, diffusion, time-series).
• Have contributed to a large codebase used by many (open source or in the industry).
• Have a track record of publications in top academic journals or conferences.
• Love improving existing code by fixing typing issues, adding tests and improving CI pipelines.

What we offer

We offer a comprehensive benefits package designed to support your well-being, growth, and work-life balance. Benefits vary by country and may include healthcare coverage, parental leave, retirement plans, relocation support, wellness programs, meal and transportation allowances, and other location-specific perks.

For the most up-to-date details on benefits available in your location, please refer to our Benefits page.

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