Research Engineer

SA Technologies; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

SA Technologies Inc. in San Francisco is seeking a Research Engineer to lead end-to-end research initiatives, from scoping to MVP and validation.

You will work on frontier ML directions, reproduce and improve on existing work, and collaborate with project leads to turn concepts into tangible outputs such as datasets, pilots, or publications. The role requires strong ML depth, ability to read and reimplement papers, and excellent Python programming with autonomy to drive initiatives forward in a

Qualifications

• MS or PhD in ML, CS, or related quantitative field.
• Real ML depth: ability to read and reimplement papers.
• Hands-on experience with at least one of RL/agentic systems, AI/ML evaluation, or multimodal ML.
• Strong Python and the engineering ability to build and ship experiments.
• High autonomy: turn ambiguous direction into a concrete plan.
• Clear technical writing.

Responsibilities

• Identify and implement relevant research methods from papers, benchmarks, and posts.
• Reproduce prior work and explore improvements.
• Own end-to-end projects from scoping to MVP to validation.
• Translate ambiguous requirements into a concrete, testable plan.
• Validate ideas via hands-on implementation, annotation, or data sourcing.
• Turn directions into tangible outputs like datasets, pilots, or papers.

Skills

MS/PhD in ML/CS

ML depth

Python

Autonomy

Technical writing

Education

MS or PhD in ML/CS

Job description

San Francisco, United States | Posted on 08/07/2026

Unlock New Career Opportunities with SA Technologies Inc.

We’re Hiring: Research Engineer

At SA Technologies Inc., we believe in turning career aspirations into reality. As a CMMI Level 5 and Great Place to Work® Certified global IT consulting and services company—and recognized as one of the Best Places for Women,we are committed to building an inclusive, supportive, and high-performance workplace.

The Impact You'll Make

Our research team is expanding to keep pace with a wave of frontier-facing work: internal research streams, client engagements that require real ML depth, and emerging opportunities at the cutting edge of the field. As a Research Engineer, you'll take a research direction and run with it - finding the right papers, benchmarks, and prior work, reimplementing what's relevant, and building out the process to reproduce and improve on it internally.

You’ll own initiatives end to end: partnering with strategic project and technical leads to scope the work, building MVPs to validate ideas (including through human annotation and agents), and turning that work into something concrete - a customer dataset, a pilot, an internal dataset that becomes a paper or blog post, or a joint publication with a partner. You won't be handed a fully specified task list; you'll be given a direction and the autonomy to turn it into a research plan.

This is a full-time, hybrid position based in San Francisco.

What You'll Do

• Take a research direction and independently identify supporting resources - papers, benchmarks, blog posts - then implement or reimplement the relevant methods
• Build and own the process to reproduce prior work internally and identify ways to improve on it
• Own projects (for example, an RL/agentic environment build for a partner or a novel multimodal benchmark) end to end, including scoping, MVP implementation, and validation
• Partner with strategic project leads and technical leads to translate ambiguous requirements into a concrete, testable research plan
• Validate ideas through hands-on implementation, including annotating, evaluating, or sourcing data
• Turn research directions into tangible outputs - a paid customer dataset, a customer pilot, an internal dataset, or a paper/blog post for publication or conference presentation
• Bring an ML perspective to new opportunities — assessing technical feasibility of incoming requests and helping shape proposals where research depth is needed

What You'll Bring

• MS or PhD in ML, CS, or a related quantitative field - or equivalent demonstrated research experience (publications, significant open-source research work, industry research)
• Real ML depth: you understand how models are trained and evaluated, not just how to call an API. You can read a paper, judge whether its claims hold, and reimplement the method
• Hands-on experience with at least one of: RL/agentic systems, AI/ML evaluation and benchmarking, or multimodal ML
• Strong Python and the engineering ability to build and ship your own experiments - eval harnesses, environments, infrastructure - without relying on a platform team
• High autonomy: you can turn an ambiguous direction into a concrete research plan and notice when something's off before being told
• Clear technical writing

Nice To Have

• Experience with agent or multimodal benchmarks (OSWorld, MMMU, WebArena, SWE-bench, or similar) or building RL environments/gyms
• Familiarity with reward modeling, reward hacking, or verifier/judge reliability
• Familiarity with synthetic data generation or human-in-the-loop (HITL) workflows
• Experience with cloud infrastructure and containerized environments

Requirements

Why SA Technologies Inc.?

Empowering Work Environment: A Great Place to Work, especially celebrated as one of the Best Places for Women.

Excellence and Quality: A CMMI Level 5 Company, ensuring operational and service excellence.

Globally Acclaimed: A Microsoft Gold Partner and Google Partner, with over 20 years of global IT consulting and Development solutions delivery.

Embark on a rewarding journey together with us! At SA Technologies Inc., your journey begins with a friendly technical assessment, providing a stage to highlight your unique skills.