Lead AI Engineer - Reinforcement Learning

Placements24; Noord-Kaap; Hybrid; ZAR 1,200,000 - 2,400,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive compensation

Stock options

Remote-friendly

Health insurance

Paid time off

Professional development

Job summary

Placements24 is seeking a Lead AI Engineer (Reinforcement Learning) for a fully remote role. You will guide a senior team, steer RL research, and implement cutting-edge RL systems powering autonomous decision-making across products.

You will drive the technical roadmap, publish findings, and ensure scalable, reliable RL deployments while collaborating with cross-functional teams in a remote-first culture.

Qualifications

• PhD or Master’s in CS/AI with RL specialization.
• 7+ years in AI/ML, with 4+ years in RL research and development.
• Proven track record leading technical teams.

Responsibilities

• Lead the design and deployment of advanced RL algorithms and systems.
• Mentor a team of AI engineers and drive high-performance collaboration.
• Define the RL research roadmap and evaluate novel techniques.
• Develop RL agents for robotics, autonomy, and game AI applications.
• Conduct rigorous experiments and compare algorithm robustness.
• Collaborate with software, product, and operations to productionize RL.

Skills

RL expertise

Python

Deep learning

Leadership

Remote collaboration

Education

PhD in CS/AI with RL specialization

Master's in CS/AI with RL

Tools

OpenAI Gym

MuJoCo

PyTorch

TensorFlow

Job description

About the Role

Our client is a global leader in developing intelligent systems and autonomous solutions. We are seeking a highly experienced and innovative Lead AI Engineer specializing in Reinforcement Learning (RL) to join our fully remote team. This role is critical for advancing our capabilities in complex decision-making systems and control algorithms. You will lead a team of talented engineers, drive research initiatives, and implement cutting-edge RL solutions that power our next-generation products. As a remote-first company, we foster a culture of collaboration, autonomy, and continuous learning, providing all necessary resources for you to excel from anywhere.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the design, development, and implementation of advanced Reinforcement Learning algorithms and systems.
• Mentor and guide a team of AI engineers, fostering a collaborative and high-performance environment.
• Define and drive the technical roadmap for RL research and development projects.
• Develop and optimize RL agents for complex real-world applications, such as robotics, autonomous systems, and game AI.
• Conduct rigorous experimentation, simulation, and analysis to evaluate RL algorithm performance and robustness.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams (e.g., software engineering, product management) to integrate RL solutions into production environments.
• Stay at the forefront of RL research, identifying and applying novel techniques and methodologies.
• Contribute to the technical strategy and architectural decisions for our AI platforms.
• Publish research findings in top-tier conferences and journals, representing the company's innovation.
• Ensure the scalability, efficiency, and reliability of deployed RL systems.

Requirements

• PhD or Master's degree in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, or a related quantitative field, with a specialization in Reinforcement Learning.
• 7+ years of experience in AI/ML engineering, with at least 4 years focused specifically on Reinforcement Learning research and development.
• Demonstrated experience leading technical teams and projects.
• Deep understanding of RL fundamentals, including Markov Decision Processes, Q-learning, Policy Gradients, Actor-Critic methods, and Deep RL architectures (DQN, PPO, SAC).
• Strong programming skills in Python and extensive experience with deep learning frameworks like PyTorch or TensorFlow.
• Experience with simulation environments (e.g., OpenAI Gym, MuJoCo) and developing RL agents for them.
• Proven ability to design, implement, and debug complex algorithms.
• Excellent problem-solving, analytical, and critical thinking skills.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills, essential for effective remote teamwork.
• Track record of publications in leading AI conferences (e.g., NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR) is highly desirable.

Benefits

• Our client offers a highly competitive compensation package, including a substantial salary, performance bonuses, and stock options.
• As a fully remote company, we provide a flexible work schedule and support for home office setup.
• Benefits include comprehensive health insurance, generous paid time off, and continuous professional development opportunities through online courses, workshops, and conference attendance.
• We foster a culture of innovation and provide challenging problems that allow you to grow your expertise in Reinforcement Learning.
• Join our world-class team and help us build the future of intelligent autonomous systems.