ML Research Scientist I/II, Multimodal Data Extraction

Lila Sciences; Cambridge (MA); On-site; USD 176,000 - 304,000; Full time

Job summary

A pioneering scientific AI platform is looking for an ML Research Scientist I/II to advance its vision of scientific superintelligence. You will develop models that read and structure scientific knowledge from various data forms. The ideal candidate holds a PhD in a relevant field and has expertise in machine learning and multimodal modeling. This role offers a competitive salary of $176,000–$304,000 USD per year, along with bonus potential.

Qualifications

• PhD (or equivalent research experience) in Computer Science, Chemistry, Materials Science, or a related field.
• Expertise in machine learning, NLP, and vision-language modeling using PyTorch and Hugging Face Transformers.
• Proven ability to train, fine-tune, and evaluate LLMs and multimodal models for scientific data extraction.
• Strong understanding of data structures and representations used in the physical sciences.
• Demonstrated research impact through publications, preprints, or open-source work.

Responsibilities

• Research and develop AI systems that extract and structure knowledge from diverse scientific sources.
• Design and fine-tune large language, multimodal and specialized models for factual, interpretable data extraction.
• Build scalable pipelines for unstructured and heterogeneous scientific data, integrating text, tables, and visuals.
• Collaborate with domain experts to align extracted data with real-world discovery workflows.
• Publish research that advances the state of the art in multimodal understanding and AI-driven knowledge extraction.

Skills

Machine learning

NLP

Vision-language modeling

PyTorch

Hugging Face Transformers

Education

PhD in Computer Science, Chemistry, Materials Science, or related field

Job description

ML Research Scientist I/II, Multimodal Data Extraction

Your Impact at Lila

As an ML Research Scientist - Multimodal Data Extraction, you will advance Lila’s vision of scientific superintelligence by developing foundation models that autonomously read, interpret, and structure scientific knowledge across text, images, and experimental data in the physical sciences. Your research will help unify the world’s scientific information into machine‑understandable form, powering reasoning, prediction, and autonomous discovery across materials science and chemistry.

What You’ll Be Building

• Research and develop AI systems that extract and structure knowledge from diverse scientific sources.
• Design and fine‑tune large language, multi‑modal and specialized models for factual, interpretable data extraction.
• Build scalable pipelines for unstructured and heterogeneous scientific data, integrating text, tables, and visuals.
• Collaborate with domain experts to align extracted data with real‑world discovery workflows.
• Publish research that advances the state of the art in multimodal understanding and AI‑driven knowledge extraction.

What You’ll Need To Succeed

• PhD (or equivalent research experience) in Computer Science, Chemistry, Materials Science, or a related field.
• Expertise in machine learning, NLP, and vision–language modeling using PyTorch and Hugging Face Transformers.
• Proven ability to train, fine‑tune, and evaluate LLMs and multimodal models for scientific data extraction.
• Strong understanding of data structures and representations used in the physical sciences.
• Demonstrated research impact through publications, preprints, or open‑source work (e.g., NeurIPS, ICLR, ICML, ACL, EMNLP, scientific journals).

Bonus Points For

• Experience with multimodal fusion architectures and document‑level understanding.
• Knowledge of scientific document parsing (OCR, table extraction, figure‑caption linking).
• Familiarity with knowledge‑graph construction or reasoning systems for science.
• Experience with noisy or heterogeneous real‑world scientific data.
• Collaborative mindset and passion for advancing AI in the physical sciences.

About Lila

Lila Sciences is the world’s first scientific superintelligence platform and autonomous lab for life, chemistry, and materials science. We are pioneering a new age of boundless discovery by building the capabilities to apply AI to every aspect of the scientific method. We introduce scientific superintelligence to solve humankind’s greatest challenges, enabling scientists to bring forth solutions in human health, climate, and sustainability at a pace and scale never experienced before. Learn more about this mission at www.lila.ai.

Compensation

We expect the base salary for this role to fall between $176,000–$304,000 USD per year, along with bonus potential and generous early equity. The final offer will reflect your unique background, expertise, and impact.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Lila Sciences is committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or veteran status.

Agency Policy

Lila Sciences does not accept unsolicited resumes from any source other than candidates. The submission of unsolicited resumes by recruitment or staffing agencies to Lila Sciences or its employees is strictly prohibited unless contacted directly by Lila Sciences’ internal Talent Acquisition team.