Senior Research Scientist

adaption; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible work

Travel stipend

Lunch stipend

Medical benefits

Job summary

Adaption in San Francisco seeks a senior researcher to build models that continuously evolve with the world. You will advance efficiency, gradient-free exploration, real-time learning, and interface design, shaping how intelligent systems interact with real-world data.

Collaborate across software, hardware, and algorithms, publish in top venues, and mentor others. We value bold ideas, adaptability, and the drive to move fast while delivering meaningful impact.

Qualifications

• PhD or equivalent research experience in CS.
• 4-5+ years of industry experience.
• Publication record at ICML, NeurIPS, ACL, ICLR, EMNLP.
• Deep expertise in at least one area: model efficiency, real time alignment or algorithmic optimization.
• Systems thinking across the full ML stack.
• Strong programming skills in Python. Experience with deep learning frameworks (PyTorch, JAX, TensorFlow).
• Knowledge of model optimization techniques (RLHF, finetuning).
• Experience in an industry lab with computing at scale.

Responsibilities

• Innovation: You have ideas and you move fast. You care about impact, not just effort.
• Cross-Stack Optimization: You collaborate across software, hardware, and algorithmic domains to unlock system-wide efficiency gains.
• Measure What Matters: The ultimate signal of value is real-world impact and our algorithms interact with the world; product thinking is inseparable from research.

Skills

Python

Deep learning

Systems thinking

Real-time adaptation

Education

PhD in CS

Tools

PyTorch

JAX

TensorFlow

RLHF

Job description

Our research principles

Our research principles

Sweat the details. Technical excellence requires obsessing over every detail. We co-design serving, algorithms, and interface as one system to maximize efficiency and enable real-time adaptation.

Move with conviction. Extraordinary results require extraordinary effort. We operate with urgency as a unified team, concentrating resources on a few high-conviction bets where research and impact intersect.

Metrics that matter. The most intelligent system will increasingly be defined by building an algorithm that can interact with the world. Research ideas are tested through working products. If it doesn't improve what users can do, we question whether it matters. We share what moves the field; we don't optimize for paper count.

The role

This is a research role focused on building models that continuously evolve with the world. Our frontier work centers on efficiency, gradient-free exploration, real-time learning, and interface design. The most intelligent systems will increasingly be defined not just by what they know, but by how well they can interact with the world. For the first time, researchers who care deeply about intelligence and efficiency must also be obsessed with the interface through which a model acts. If any of this resonates, we'd love to hear from you.

Responsibilities

• Innovation: You have ideas and you move fast. You care about impact, not just effort.

Cross-Stack Optimization:

You collaborate across software, hardware, and algorithmic domains to unlock system-wide efficiency gains.

Measure What Matters:

The ultimate signal of value is real-world impact. Our current algorithms are capable of interacting with the world which is why product thinking is inseparable from research.

Qualifications

• A PhD or equivalent research experience in a computer science field
• 4-5+ years of industry experience
• Publishing record at ICML, NeurIPS, ACL, ICLR, EMNLP.
• Deep expertise in at least one area: model efficiency, real time alignment or algorithmic optimization
• Systems thinking ability to understand and optimize across the full ML stack
• Strong programming skills in Python. Experience with deep learning frameworks (PyTorch, JAX, TensorFlow)
• Knowledge of model optimization techniques (RLHF, finetuning)
• Experience in an industry lab with computing at scale

Above all, we're looking for great teammates who make work feel lighter and aren't afraid to go out on a limb with bold ideas. You don't need to be perfect, but you do need to be adaptable. We encourage you to apply, even if you don't check every box.

About Us

Most AI is frozen in place - it doesn't adapt to the world. We think that's backwards. Our mandate is to build efficient intelligence that evolves in real-time. Our vision is AI systems that are flexible, personalized, and accessible to everyone. We believe efficiency is what makes this possible - it's how we expand access and ensure innovation benefits the many, not the few. We believe in talent density: bringing together the best and most driven individuals to push the boundaries of continual adaptation. We're looking for builders and creative thinkers ready to shape the next era of intelligence.

Benefits

• Flexible work: In-person collaboration in the Bay Area, a distributed global-first team, and team offsites.
• Adaption Passport: Annual travel stipend to explore a country you've never visited. We're building intelligence that evolves alongside you, so we encourage you to keep expanding your horizons.
• Lunch Stipend: Weekly meal allowance for take-out or grocery delivery.
• Well-Being: Comprehensive medical benefits and generous paid time off.