Research Scientist, AllenNLP

Allen Institute for AI (AI2); Seattle (WA); Hybrid; USD 167,000 - 261,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading AI research institute is seeking a creative AI researcher to drive groundbreaking research in natural language processing and generative AI. The successful candidate will develop and lead innovative projects, collaborate closely with diverse teams, and contribute significantly to open-source contributions, while enjoying a supportive work environment in vibrant Seattle.

Benefits

Generous paid vacation and sick leave

Medical, dental, and vision insurance

401k plan with company contributions

$125 monthly for commuting or internet expenses

$200 monthly for fitness and wellbeing expenses

Qualifications

• PhD focusing on NLP, machine learning, or related areas.
• Experience in language models, experimental methodology, and efficient algorithms.
• Contributions to open-source research libraries.

Responsibilities

• Lead foundational research to advance generative AI.
• Contribute to the development of OLMo and related frameworks.
• Mentor early-career researchers and interns.

Skills

Natural Language Processing

Machine Learning

Deep Learning

Reinforcement Learning

Education

PhD in Natural Language Processing or related area

Job description

Persons in these roles are expected to spend part of their time on-site in our Seattle offices and may occasionally work remotely from their home in the Greater Seattle area. On-site requirements vary based on position and team. If you have questions about Hybrid work arrangements for this role, please ask your recruiter.

Ourbase salary range is $167,030 - $260,570 and in addition we have generous bonus plans to provide a competitive compensation package.

Who We Are:

We are a non-profit AI institute, focused on developing foundational AI research and innovation to deliver real-world impact through large-scale open models, data, and artifacts (e.g., OLMo , Tulu , Molmo ). We unite the best and brightest scientific and engineering minds to explore the potential of truly open AI. Through our efforts, including the pioneering OLMo releases, we endeavor to empower academics, researchers, and AI developers more broadly to advance language models and generative AI models. Through close collaboration, we rapidly identify, define, and act on the most exciting and promising new ideas in AI.

Our team engages in a broad range of AI research, including pre-training and post-training language models, curating data to enhance AI across different modalities, and developing novel methodologies to push the field forward. We study and evaluate AI models both theoretically and empirically, aiming to advance their capabilities. Additionally, we create impactful real-world applications, such as in scientific synthesis. Our goal is to develop state-of-the-art models that excel in scientific discovery, reasoning, and factual recall.

Who You Are:

You are a creative, hands-on AI researcher with a strong foundation in AI and natural language processing. Passionate about pushing the boundaries of research and engineering, you seek to advance AI and language models both scientifically and openly. You thrive in collaborative environments, take initiative, and are eager to contribute to AI2’s impact-driven mission in a dynamic, fast-paced research setting. Skilled at translating complex concepts into concrete research goals and implementation steps, you define clear approaches, execute effectively, and communicate results with clarity. You leverage these skills to create real-world benefits for researchers and practitioners alike and are excited to help drive the development of the best-performing open AI model.

What You Need:

• A PhD focusing on natural language processing, machine learning, or a related area, with expertise in one or more of the following: language models, reinforcement learning, experimental methodology, the science of deep learning, or efficient algorithms for deep learning. Curiosity about all of the above is a plus.
• The ability to own and pursue a research agenda to improve AI models.
• Enthusiasm for collaboration and teamwork on ambitious projects aligned with company goals.
• Experience leading a team to solve analytical problems (a plus).
• Contributions to open-source research libraries and an interest in continuing such work (a plus).

As a key member of the core team of research scientists and machine learning engineers at AI2, you will drive the development of OLMo (Open Language Models) and related frameworks. In this role, you will lead foundational research to advance generative AI, shape our strategic direction, and lay the groundwork for future innovations. You will also work towards long-term ambitious research goals, while identifying intermediate milestones.

The essential functions include, but are not limited to the following:

• Contribute to AI2’s open source research environment to innovate, study and advance the science of generative AI
• Take a leading role in building artifacts and implementing software systems with real-world impact
• Author and present high-quality scientific technical reports, papers, and presentations
• Collaborate with and learn from team members across AI2, including scientists and engineers
• Mentor early-career researchers and interns on their projects
• Develop collaborative relationships with relevant academic, industrial, government, and standards organizations

Physical Demands and Work Environment:

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by a team member to successfully perform the essential functions of this position. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the functions.

• Must be able to remain in a stationary position for long periods of time.
• The ability to communicate information and ideas so others will understand. Must be able to exchange accurate information in these situations.
• The ability to observe details at close range.

A Little More About AI2:

The Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence is a non-profit research institute in Seattle founded by Paul Allen. The core mission of AI2 is to contribute to humanity through high-impact research in artificial intelligence.

In addition to AI2’s core mission, we also aim to contribute to humanity through our treatment of each member of the AI2 Team. Some highlights are:

• We are a learning organization – because everything AI2 does is ground-breaking, we are learning every day. Similarly, through weekly AI2 Academy lectures, a wide variety of world-class AI experts as guest speakers, and our commitment to your personal on-going education, AI2 is a place where you will have opportunities to continue learning alongside your coworkers.
• We value diversity - We seek to hire, support, and promote people from all genders, ethnicities, and all levels of experience regardless of age. We particularly encourage applications from women, non-binary individuals, people of color, members of the LGBTQA+ community, and people with disabilities of any kind.
• We value inclusion - We understand the value that people's individual experiences and perspectives can bring to an organization, and we are building a culture in which all voices are heard, respected and considered.
• We emphasize a healthy work/life balance – we believe our team members are happiest and most productive when their work/life balance is optimized. While we value powerful research results which drive our mission forward, we also value dinner with family, weekend time, and vacation time. We offer generous paid vacation and sick leave as well as family leave.
• We are collaborative and transparent – we consider ourselves a team, all moving with a common purpose. We are quick to cheer our successes, and even quicker to share and jointly problem solve our failures.
• We are in Seattle – and our office is on the water! We have mountains, we have lakes, we have four seasons, we bike to work, we have a vibrant theater scene, and we have so much else. We even have kayaks for you to paddle right outside our front door. We welcome interest from applicants from outside of the United States.
• We are friendly– chances are you will like every one of the 200+ (and growing) people who work here. We do.

AI2 is proud to be an Equal Opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, transgender status, sexual stereotypes, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics. You may view the related Know Your Rights compliance poster and the Pay Transparency Nondiscrimination Provision by clicking on their corresponding links.

This employer participates in E-Verify and will provide the federal government with your Form I-9 information to confirm that you are authorized to work in the U.S. If E-Verify cannot confirm that you are authorized to work, this employer is required to give you written instructions and an opportunity to contact the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) or Social Security Administration (SSA) so you can begin to resolve the issue before the employer can take any action against you, including terminating your employment. Employers can only use E-Verify once you have accepted a job offer and completed the Form I-9.

We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations to employees and applicants with disabilities to the full extent required by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). If you feel you need a reasonable accommodation pursuant to the ADA, you are encouraged to contact us at [e-mail]

• Team members and their families are covered by medical, dental, vision, basic life insurance, basic accidental death and dismemberment insurance, short-term disability, long-term disability, and an employee assistance program.
• Team members are able to enroll in our voluntary life insurance program, our voluntary accidental death and dismemberment program, our health savings account plan, our healthcare reimbursement arrangement plan, and our health care and dependent care flexible spending account plans.
• Team members are able to enroll in our company’s 401k plan.
• Team members will receive $125 per month to assist with commuting or internet expenses and will also receive $200 per month for fitness and wellbeing expenses.
• Team members will also receive up to ten sick days per year, up to seven personal days per year, up to 20 vacation days per year and twelve paid holidays throughout the calendar year.
• Team members will be able to receive annual bonuses and can participate in the long-term incentive plan.

Note: This job description in no way states or implies that these are the only duties to be performed by the team members(s) of this position. Team members will be required to follow any other job-related instructions and to perform any other job-related duties requested by any person authorized to give instructions or assignments. All duties and responsibilities are essential functions and requirements and are subject to possible modification to reasonably accommodate individuals with disabilities. To perform this job successfully, the team member(s) will possess the skills, aptitudes, and abilities to perform each duty proficiently. Some requirements may exclude individuals who pose a direct threat or significant risk to the health or safety of themselves or others. The requirements listed in this document are the minimum levels of knowledge, skills, or abilities. This document does not create an employment contract, implied or otherwise, other than an at will relationship.

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Please tell us about the research project that you’ve worked on in the past few years that you found most exciting and important. The project does not need to be in natural language processing or even in artificial intelligence. Please use 100 words or less. *

Please tell us about one research question or problem that you’d be excited to work on with our team and why you think this problem is important and challenging; your answer doesn’t need to be tied to your answer for the previous question. Please describe a project other than one you’re already working on (or have worked on). While it’s fine to talk about anything, please note that the Ai2 researchers reading your answer will be best able to evaluate ideas about topics they are familiar with. Importantly, your answer is not a commitment to future work; it’s only meant as a way for us to learn about your interests and gauge their alignment to ours. Please limit your answer to 200 words. *

The OLMo team greatly values diversity and aspires to create an inclusive environment. Optionally, please share with us how you’ve contributed to diversity and inclusion in the past, in 100 words or less.

What recent advance in NLP do you personally find most exciting (not including work by you or by Ai2), and how do you think it will change future work? We’re especially interested in answers that will surprise us, e.g., by going off-trend. Please use no more than 100 words to answer. *

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