Research Scientist Intern, Multimodal LLM and Speech-to-Speech Translation (PhD)

Meta; Redmond (WA); On-site; USD 48,000 - 62,000; Full time

Job summary

Meta Reality Labs Research intern positions seek researchers to advance multimodal large language models (MLLMs) and speech-to-speech translation (S2ST) for AR/VR experiences. Interns will explore models combining audio, speech, vision, and language inputs, and will evaluate and publish results.

Internships run 12–24 weeks with multiple start dates; PhD candidates with strong Python and ML framework experience who can obtain work authorization in the United States are preferred.

Qualifications

• PhD degree in a related STEM field or in progress.
• 3+ years programming in Python or similar language.
• 3+ years experience with ML frameworks such as PyTorch or TensorFlow.
• 2+ years developing computational models in speech processing, NLP, multimodal learning, or audio-visual learning.
• Must obtain work authorization in the country of employment.

Responsibilities

• Conduct original research in multimodal large language models, speech foundation models, or speech-to-speech translation.
• Develop models that jointly understand and reason over audio, speech, visual, and textual inputs, or generate natural speech across languages.
• Investigate methods for model pretraining, multimodal alignment, instruction tuning, or streaming inference.
• Design and execute experiments, establish baselines, and evaluate model quality, robustness, latency, and computational efficiency.
• Collaborate with researchers and engineers across speech, audio, computer vision, and language modeling.
• Communicate research ideas, progress, and results through presentations, technical reports, and research publications.

Skills

Python

Machine learning

Speech processing

Natural language processing

Multimodal learning

Education

PhD in Computer Science / AI / ML / EE / Computational Linguistics

Tools

PyTorch

TensorFlow

Job description

The Meta Reality Labs Research team brings together researchers, developers, and engineers to build the future of augmented and virtual reality. Our research spans the technologies that enable next-generation AR glasses and VR headsets, with the goal of transforming how people interact with their surroundings and connect with one another.The Reality Labs Research audio team develops technologies that redefine human hearing and communication. We seek to help people understand the world around them, communicate in challenging listening environments, and connect across languages. Learn more about our research here.

We are seeking Research Scientist Interns to advance multimodal large language models (MLLMs) and speech-to-speech translation (S2ST) for next-generation wearable and AR/VR experiences. Research opportunities include models that integrate audio, speech, vision, and language for multimodal understanding and reasoning; conversational speech models; and streaming speech translation that preserves meaning, speaker characteristics, and expressive prosody.

Interns will investigate research questions in one or more of these areas, develop and evaluate novel models, and collaborate with researchers and engineers to demonstrate their potential in real-world applications.

Our internships are twelve (12) to twenty-four (24) weeks long, with various start dates throughout the year.

Research Scientist Intern, Multimodal LLM and Speech-to-Speech Translation (PhD)

Responsibilities:

• Conduct original research in multimodal large language models, speech foundation models, or speech-to-speech translation.
• Develop models that jointly understand and reason over audio, speech, visual, and textual inputs, or generate natural speech across languages.
• Investigate methods for model pretraining, multimodal alignment, instruction tuning, or streaming inference.
• Design and execute experiments, establish baselines, and evaluate model quality, robustness, latency, and computational efficiency.
• Collaborate with researchers and engineers across speech, audio, computer vision, and language modeling.
• Communicate research ideas, progress, and results through presentations, technical reports, and research publications.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Currently has, or is in the process of obtaining, a PhD degree in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Electrical Engineering, Signal Processing, Computational Linguistics, or a related STEM field
• 3+ years of experience programming in Python or a similar language
• 3+ years of experience with machine learning frameworks such as PyTorch or TensorFlow
• 2+ years of experience developing computational models in one or more of the following areas: speech processing, natural language processing, multimodal learning, or audio-visual learning
• Must obtain work authorization in the country of employment at the time of hire and maintain ongoing work authorization during employment

Preferred Qualifications:

Research experience in