Research Engineer

Adaption Labs; Northern (KY); Hybrid; USD 100,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual travel stipend

Lunch stipend

Flexible work arrangement

Job summary

Adaption Labs is seeking an engineer who thrives at the intersection of applied research and turning ideas into real-world products. You’ll drive the design and implementation of adaptable data strategies and collaborate directly with the founding team to influence both research directions and the product vision.

This role demands technical excellence, ownership, and a passion for delivering tangible impact in production ML systems.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in CS, ML or related field.
• 3–4 years in ML, applied research, or AI systems engineering.
• Experience closing the loop from production signal to retraining or fine-tuning.
• Experience with online/ RL or efficient ML architectures.
• Strong Python software engineering skills.
• Familiarity with observability tools (OpenTelemetry, Docker, Grafana).
• Excellent communication and ability to align work with goals.
• Ownership mindset, curiosity and bias toward action.
• Willingness to adapt and contribute bold ideas.

Responsibilities

• Deliver real-world impact by building and deploying adaptive ML systems in production.
• Own data product implementations addressing data, interaction, and evaluation.

Skills

Machine Learning

Applied Research

Software Engineering

Python

Observability

Ownership

Communication

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Machine Learning, or a related field

Tools

OpenTelemetry

Docker

Grafana

Job description

We are obsessed with efficiency - allowing for real-time evolution of AI depends on making adaptable data and algorithms extremely efficient. The ideal candidate brings an expertise in building the pipeline that retrains or fine-tunes a model from production data instead of just querying one.

We’re looking for an engineer who thrives at the intersection of applied research and building real-world products. You’ll drive the design and implementation of adaptable data strategies. You’ll work directly with the founding team, contributing to both the research direction and the product vision. This role demands technical excellence and a passion for delivering real-world impact.

Responsibilities

• Deliver Real-World Impact: Lead the development and deployment of efficient, adaptive ML systems in real production environments.
• Hands-on Impact: The ideal candidate will own implementation of data products at Adaption. This position requires creativity and technical execution in addressing novel challenges related to data, interaction, and evaluation.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Machine Learning, or a related field
• 3-4 years of experience in machine learning, applied research, or systems-level engineering for artificial intelligence.
• Demonstrated experience closing the loop from production signal back into model retraining or fine-tuning.
• Experience with online learning, reinforcement learning, or efficient ML architectures.
• Strong software engineering skills and familiarity with Python.
• Exposure to working with observability tools in the past (e.g. OpenTelemetry, Docker, Grafana).
• Excellent communication skills and ability to align technical work with high-level goals.
• A mindset of ownership, curiosity, and a bias toward action.
• Above all, we're looking for great teammates who make work feel lighter and aren't afraid to go out on a limb with bold ideas. You don't need to be perfect, but you do need to be adaptable. We encourage you to apply, even if you don't check every box.

About us

Most AI is frozen in place - it doesn't adapt to the world. We think that’s backwards. Our mandate is to build efficient intelligence that evolves in real-time. Our vision is AI systems that are flexible, personalized, and accessible to everyone. We believe efficiency is what makes this possible - it's how we expand access and ensure innovation benefits the many, not the few. We believe in talent density: bringing together the best and most driven individuals to push the boundaries of continual adaptation. We're looking for builders and creative thinkers ready to shape the next era of intelligence.

Flexible work: In-person collaboration in the Bay Area, a distributed global-first team, and team offsites.

Adaption Passport: Annual travel stipend to explore a country you've never visited. We're building intelligence that evolves alongside you, so we encourage you to keep expanding your horizons.

Lunch Stipend: Weekly meal allowance for take-out or grocery delivery.

Well-Being: Comprehensive medical benefits and generous paid time off.