Member of Technical Staff, Research

Odyssey; Santa Clara (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

An innovative AI lab in Santa Clara is seeking a senior researcher to drive original research in generative interactive video. The ideal candidate will have deep expertise in machine learning and a proven record in generative modeling. Responsibilities include formulating research agendas and exploring novel architectures. This role offers an exciting opportunity to collaborate closely with engineering teams and contribute to pioneering new interactive media capabilities.

Qualifications

• Deep expertise in machine learning with original contributions to generative modeling.
• Experience conducting exploratory research producing conceptual breakthroughs.
• Comfortable defining new problems and designing experiments.

Responsibilities

• Pursue original research on generative interactive video.
• Formulate and own an independent research agenda.
• Explore new architectures and training paradigms.
• Develop frameworks and systems that deepen understanding of how models perceive and respond to user intent and real-world dynamics.
• Collaborate with engineering to turn foundational insights into prototypes that demonstrate new capabilities.
• Contribute to the scientific culture of the lab: publishing, mentoring, and engaging with the broader research community.

Skills

Machine learning expertise

Generative modeling

Video synthesis

Multimodal learning

Experiment design

Education

PhD in ML/CS

Tools

Python

PyTorch

TensorFlow

Job description

Who we are

Odyssey is an AI lab pioneering general-purpose world models—a new form of audio-visual intelligence. These models will power the next generation of gaming, education, companionship, simulation, and advertising, and unlock entirely new consumer, enterprise, and intelligence applications.

What we're looking for

We’re looking for a deeply technical and creative researcher who thrives on invention: someone excited to redefine what’s possible in generative media. You’re motivated by the unknown, energized by turning abstract ideas into concrete systems, and comfortable bridging the gap between research and product. You’re excited by the chance to pioneer interactive video models capable of real-time generation, understanding, and interactivity.

What you'll do

• Pursue original research into the foundations of generative interactive video : representation, temporal coherence, causality, control, and long-horizon imagination.

• Formulate and own an independent research agenda: identifying unsolved questions, designing hypotheses, and developing algorithms that could redefine what these models can do.

• Explore new architectures, learning objectives, and training paradigms that move beyond today’s diffusion and transformer approaches.

• Develop conceptual frameworks and experimental systems that deepen our understanding of how models perceive and respond to user intent and real-world dynamics.

• Collaborate closely with our engineering and infrastructure teams to turn foundational insights into prototypes that demonstrate new capabilities, not just incremental improvements.

• Contribute to the scientific culture of the lab: publishing, mentoring, and engaging with the broader research community to shape the field of interactive generative models.

Who you are

• A staff-level or senior researcher with deep expertise in machine learning and a track record of original contributions to generative modeling, video synthesis, multimodal learning, or related areas.

• Experienced in conducting long-horizon, exploratory research that produces conceptual and algorithmic breakthroughs beyond scaling improvements alone.

• Comfortable working from first principles: defining new problems, designing experiments to test them, and building minimal systems to prove what’s possible.

• Motivated by understanding as much as by performance: you care about how and why models work, not only that they do.

• Thrives in a small, focused lab environment that values autonomy, deep thinking, and tight research collaboration.

• Passionate about establishing the scientific underpinnings of a new medium—helping define how AI perceives, learns, and interacts through pixels over the next decade.