Research Programmer III- Machine Learning & Computational Neuroscience, Kennedy Lab

Ultipro; San Diego, Northern (CA, KY); Hybrid; USD 75,000 - 100,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

On-site parking

Retirement plan

Health and welfare plans

Paid time off

Job summary

The Kennedy lab at Scripps Research Institute is seeking a Research Programmer III (Software Engineer) to advance machine learning and computational neuroscience projects. You will work on ML methods for tracking behavior and neural activity, including high-throughput phenotyping and data modeling, in a collaborative lab setting.

You will have opportunities to lead projects, contribute to publications, and develop scalable software in a multidisciplinary environment with collaborators across

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Data Science, Applied Math, or related field, or equivalent.
• Minimum of four years of software development or research programming experience.
• Experience with Python.
• Experience building and training deep neural networks.
• Ability to apply fundamentals of software development.

Responsibilities

• Develop ML and computational neuroscience methods to analyze neural and behavioral data.
• Lead independent research projects using existing datasets from collaborators.
• Contribute to scientific papers and participate in lab activities.

Skills

Python

Deep neural nets

Git

Machine Learning

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering/CS or related

Job description

Research Programmer III- Machine Learning & Computational Neuroscience, Kennedy Lab

Job Category: Research Staff

Requisition Number: RESEA005229

• Posted : September 22, 2026
• Full-Time
• On-site

Locations

Showing 1 location

Description

POSITION TITLE: Research Programmer III (Software Engineer)

POSITION SUMMARY:

The Kennedy laboratory is involved in numerous projects to track, quantify, and forecast individual and group behavior and relate it to recorded neural activity. We develop new computational methods to understand how agents (animals, humans, virtual) gather information about their sensory environment, integrate this with internal motivational needs, and execute goal-directed actions in complex, naturalistic environments. We also develop machine learning and computer vision platforms for high-throughput animal phenotyping, with the goal of accelerating drug screening and repurposing efforts at Scripps.

We seek motivated individuals interested in gaining hands-on experience in scientific research projects, with a goal of contributing to scientific papers and participating in an active lab environment. You will also have the opportunity to lead independent research projects on existing datasets from our collaborators (U Penn, UCLA, Harvard, U Utah, Northwestern, and others). This is an ideal position for applicants interested in building their scientific CV ahead of applying to graduate programs in Computational Neuroscience or Machine Learning, or those looking for a longer term position where they can contribute to original scientific research and model development.

REQUIREMENTS:

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Data Science, Applied Math, or related field, or an equivalent combination of education, training and/or experience. Other STEM degrees may be accepted if accompanied with programming education, training, and/or experience.
• Minimum of four years experience in software application development or research programming.
• Experience with software development in Python.
• Experience building and training deep neural networks for supervised, unsupervised, or reinforcement learning problems.
• A demonstrated ability to apply the fundamentals of software application development.
• Experience with version control, including git and github.

Please include code samples and/or a link to a public code repository with examples of your work.

PREFERRED SKILLSET:

Prior experience with the one or more of the following is preferred:

• Experience with sequence/time series data, control/reinforcement learning problems and environments, time series forecasting.
• Familiarity with topics in motor control, robotics, and neuroscience.

As a member of a computational lab working in team projects, the following general skills are also preferred:

• Experience developing scalable system architectures that adhere to good software engineering principles.
• Ability to tackle large, open-ended research questions independently and as part of a team.
• Willingness to be an active participant in a computational lab environment, including taking part in lab meetings, journal clubs, and hackathons.
• Experience working within a diverse, interdisciplinary team.
• Experience contributing to open source software projects.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS : This position works in an office environment, and it is expected that work will be primarily performed in-person.

COMPENSTAION:

The expected hiring range for this position is $75,000 to $100,000 per year, commensurate with experience.

COMPREHENSIVE BENEFITS INCLUDE:

• Employer Contributed Retirement Plan – Depending on eligibility, employees receive an employer contributed retirement plan (no employee contribution required) and the option to contribute to a 403(b) (which is similar to a 401(k) using your own pre or post-tax dollars)
• Full Suite of Health and Welfare plans including three medical plan options (including an HSA available option), dental, vision, life insurance, disability, EAP and more
• Access to Flexible Spending Accounts (Medical/Dependent Care)
• Competitive vacation and sick leave policies
• Free, on-site parking

The above statements describe the level of work performed and expected in general terms. The statements are not intended to list all the responsibilities, duties and/or skills required of employees so classified, and the content herein is subject to change due to the business needs of Scripps Research, with or without notice. Furthermore, nothing in this job description shall be interpreted to be in conflict with or to eliminate or modify in any way the employment-at-will status of Scripps Research staff.

EEO Statement:
The Scripps Research Institute is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We promote diversity of thought, culture and background in the fields of science. All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply and will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or any other legally protected characteristic or status.

Equal Opportunity Employer
This employer is required to notify all applicants of their rights pursuant to federal employment laws.For further information, please review the Know Your Rights notice from the Department of Labor.