Staff Machine Learning Research Developer [430]

Clutch Canada; United States; On-site; USD 103,141 - 154,712; Full time

Job summary

D-Wave Systems Inc. is seeking a Staff Machine Learning Research Developer to collaborate with researchers, architects, and software teams. You will shape software design to enable rapid prototyping of quantum machine learning methods, and explore ML techniques on annealing quantum computers.

You will digest research literature, lead ML method development, and influence the quantum ML roadmap while ensuring rigorous documentation and cross-team communication.

Qualifications

• 6+ years of professional experience in developing deep learning models.
• Advanced degree (MS/PhD) in a STEM field, or equivalent industry experience.
• Strong algorithmic reasoning and data-structure understanding.
• Ability to digest research papers quickly and implement methods.
• Broad knowledge of generative ML paradigms with depth in subdomains.
• Strong problem-solving, communication, and collaboration skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead architectural design and development of ML software for quantum annealing systems.
• Develop software enabling researchers to prototype quantum ML methods.
• Research ML methods exploiting optimization, sampling, and quantum simulation capabilities of annealing quantum computers.
• Communicate findings to leadership and cross-team stakeholders.
• Document research findings for publications and internal knowledge base.
• Drive roadmap discussions and deliver on quantum ML milestones.

Skills

Deep learning

Research

Algorithmic thinking

Papers comprehension

Generative ML

Communication

Collaboration

Education

MS/PhD in STEM

Tools

C++

Open-source

Job description

About the role

D-Wave is seeking Staff Machine Learning Research Developer to work alongside our researchers, solutions architects, and software developers specializing in various domains (e.g., combinatorial optimization, graph theory, and quantum physics).

As a senior member of the Machine Learning Development team, you will have the opportunity to influence our product offerings. You will lead the architectural design and development of our software to enable researchers and solutions architects to rapidly prototype and experiment with quantum machine learning methods. In parallel, you will research and develop machine learning methods exploiting the optimization, sampling, and quantum simulation capabilities of quantum computers.

What you'll do

• Help the team align on best practices for machine learning systems and infrastructures, research, and products
• Design and develop software for machine learning methods using annealing quantum computers
• Research and develop machine learning methods exploiting optimization, sampling, and quantum simulation capabilities of annealing quantum computers
• Communicate with leadership to identify quantum machine learning opportunities
• Consistently and comprehensively document research findings for potential publications and for building D-Wave’s internal knowledge base
• Clearly and effectively communicate research findings and insights to other D-Wave teams
• Influence and guide the quantum machine learning roadmap by providing technical feedback to leadership
• Lead and deliver goals on the quantum machine learning roadmap
• Quickly digest research papers, reproduce results, and prototype and develop novel quantum machine learning methods

What you'll bring

• 6+ years of professional experience in developing deep learning models
• An advanced degree (MS/PhD) in a STEM field, or added years of deep industry experience
• Algorithmic reasoning should be second nature (e.g., data structures and computational complexity)
• Ability to quickly digest research papers and implement methods
• A breadth of knowledge in generative machine learning paradigms (e.g., energy-based models, flow-based models, autoregressive models) complemented by a depth of knowledge in several subdomains
• Strong problem-solving, communication, and collaboration skills

Nice to have

• Familiarity with Monte Carlo methods (e.g., Metropolis-Hastings, Gibbs, parallel tempering and sequential Monte Carlo)
• A solid understanding of Boltzmann Machines (i.e., Ising models, Markov random fields, exponential family distributions)
• Familiarity with probabilistic graphical models
• Familiarity with annealing and gate-based quantum computers
• Expertise with C++ or other low-level programming languages
• Contributions to open-source software
• Familiarity with MLOps ecosystems (e.g., Kubeflow, VertexAI, Airflow)
• Experience in delivering end-to-end software projects— from architect to deployment
• Expertise in building extensible APIs and frameworks around PyTorch (or, e.g., JAX and TensorFlow)

The base pay range for this role is: $146,182 - $219,273 CAD per year (Burnaby).

Inclusion: We celebrate diverse perspectives to drive innovation in our pursuit. Our employees range from distinguished domain experts with decades of experience in their respective fields, to bright and motivated graduates eager to make their mark. Our diverse and innovative team will make you feel appreciated, supported and empower your career growth at D-Wave.

It is D-Wave Systems Inc. policy to provide equal employment opportunity (EEO) to all persons regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, physical or mental disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state/provincial, local law.