Research Engineer - Perception and Machine Learning

Socket.dev; Bellevue (CA); On-site; USD 184,000 - 257,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Bonus

Equity

Benefits

Job summary

Socket.dev is seeking Research Engineers to serve as technical pillars within the team, architecting the systems that power contextual AI for edge devices like smart glasses and robotics.

You will work at the intersection of Computer Vision, Embodied AI, and Multimodal LLMs, owning end-to-end feature development from prototyping to deployment while collaborating with hardware, researchers, and product managers to define the future of human-AI interaction.

Qualifications

• 3+ years of professional experience in AI research engineering, software development, or a related field.
• Strong background in building high-performance, maintainable codebases in C++ and Python.

Responsibilities

• Translate cutting-edge research in Vision-Language Models, Reinforcement Learning, and Multimodal LLMs into real-world applications for smart glasses and robotic platforms.
• Own the full lifecycle of feature development from prototyping and data collection to deployment and system integration.
• Design and lead large-scale ablation studies; develop robust benchmarking suites for evaluating contextual AI.
• Partner with Hardware Engineers and Product Managers to shape sensor/silicon design and roadmap.
• When at staff level, guide architectural decisions to ensure low-latency, high-accuracy inference on edge devices.
• Provide technical leadership and mentorship to peers, establishing standards for engineering and software maintainability.

Skills

C++

Python

PyTorch

TensorFlow

Education

Bachelors degree in Computer Science or Computer Engineering

Bachelors degree in Computer Science or Robotics

Job description

We are seeking Research Engineers to serve as technical pillars within the team. In this role, you will move beyond algorithm implementation to architecting the systems that power always-on contextual AI. This position sits at the intersection of Computer Vision, Embodied AI, and Multimodal LLMs. You will drive the engineering efforts to bring research breakthroughs from high-compute clusters to power-constrained, egocentric devices like smart glasses and robotic platforms.

Responsibilities

• Algorithm & System Implementation: Translate cutting-edge research in Vision-Language Models (VLMs), Reinforcement Learning, and Multimodal LLMs into performant, real-world applications on smart glasses and robotic platforms
• End-to-End Ownership: Own the full lifecycle of feature development, from initial prototyping and data collection to deployment and system integration
• Experimental Rigor: Design and lead large-scale ablation studies; develop robust benchmarking suites to evaluate and iterate on next-gen contextual AI
• Cross-Functional Influence: Partner with Hardware Engineers to influence sensor/silicon design and collaborate with Researchers and Product Managers to define the future of human-AI interaction
• Architecture & Roadmap: When hired at a staff level, lead the design and execution of engineering roadmaps, making critical architectural decisions to ensure low-latency, high-accuracy inference on power-constrained "always-on" edge devices
• Technical Leadership & Mentorship: When hired at a staff level, provide technical guidance and mentorship to peers and engineers, setting the bar for engineering and software maintainability

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, relevant technical field, or equivalent practical experience
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Robotics, or a related technical field (or equivalent practical experience)
• Experience: 3+ years of professional experience in AI research engineering, software development, or a related field. (Candidate leveling will be determined based on technical depth, scope of previous impact, and leadership experience)
• Core Technical Skills: In-depth experience programming in C++ and Python, with a focus on developing high-performance, maintainable codebases
• Framework Mastery: Extensive experience with PyTorch or TensorFlow, including model optimization (e.g., quantization, distillation, or custom kernel development)
• Deployment Experience: Proven history of deploying machine learning models into production environments or integrated hardware-software systems

Preferred Qualifications

• Advanced Degree: Ph.D. or M.S. in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or Robotics
• Large-Scale Data: Experience architecting data pipelines for high-dimensionality, multi-modal datasets
• Publication Record: Contributions to the research community through publications at top-tier venues (CVPR, ICCV, NeurIPS, ICRA, RSS) or significant patent filings
• Domain Expertise: Specialized experience in one or more: Egocentric Perception, Vision-Language-Action (VLA) models, SLAM, or Sim-to-Real transfer
• Communication: Ability to communicate complex technical trade-offs to both technical peers and non-technical stakeholders

$183,997/year to $257,000/year + bonus + equity + benefits