Full-Time

Research Scientist

Agents

Institute of Foundation Models

Institute of Foundation Models

Researches and develops foundation models

Compensation Overview

$150k - $450k/yr

+ Bonus

H1B Sponsorship Available

Sunnyvale, CA, USA

In Person

Category
AI & Machine Learning (1)
Required Skills
Python
Pytorch
Reinforcement Learning

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Requirements
  • BS, MS, or PhD degree (or equivalent experience) in Computer Science, Machine Learning, or related fields
  • Minimum 2 years of experience in LLM training/fine-tuning, evaluations, reinforcement learning, LLM inference, distributed machine learning systems
  • Python and PyTorch development experience
  • Experience in using LLM agents for your personal or professional use
  • Experience in designing and implementing algorithms from scratch (for algorithms focus)
  • Experience in dataset curation and generation (for data focus)
  • Experience in building or contributing to training/serving infrastructure (for systems focus)
  • Experience in designing and deep diving into evaluations (for evals focus)
  • Visa sponsorship eligible
  • Academic qualifications acceptable as listed
Responsibilities
  • Propose, prototype, and scale algorithms/systems to support agentic learning
  • Develop new paradigms for agentic behavior that go beyond current practices
  • Contribute to technical reports, research publications, and open-source software
  • Collaborate with other teams to produce state-of-the-art foundation models
Desired Qualifications
  • Expertise in one or more of PyTorch, Ray, Triton, CUDA C++
  • Strong knowledge of literature on reinforcement learning, LLM reasoning, and tool use
  • Experience in training or using LLM agents for software engineering tasks
  • Deep understanding of reinforcement learning principles
  • Experience implementing distributed learning algorithms
  • Contributions to published research and/or open-source machine learning software
Institute of Foundation Models

Institute of Foundation Models

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IFM builds and studies foundation models—large AI models designed to learn broadly from diverse data and be used across many tasks. Its work centers on academic research to create open, fast, and practical models that address real-world societal needs, rather than narrow applications. The models are developed by a global team across Abu Dhabi, Paris, and Silicon Valley, with a strong emphasis on openness and collaboration to advance AI science and accessibility. Unlike typical private labs that lock models behind paywalls, IFM aims to provide publicly accessible, efficient models that can be used by researchers and developers to solve real problems. The overarching goal is to push the science of foundation models forward while ensuring their benefits reach society at large.

Company Size

N/A

Company Stage

N/A

Total Funding

N/A

Headquarters

United Arab Emirates

Founded

N/A

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Simplify Jobs

Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • IFM's dedicated teams in Abu Dhabi, Paris, and Silicon Valley drive K2 and JAIS advancements.
  • Active job openings for AI research interns and engineers signal rapid team expansion.
  • PAN world model enables multi-level reasoning in simulations for real-world applications.

What critics are saying

  • OpenAI's o1 surpasses K2 and JAIS by 25% on benchmarks, shifting users in 6-12 months.
  • US export controls block NVIDIA H200 GPUs, delaying K2 releases by 9 months.
  • Stanford CRFM's model with 10x data captures 70% academic citations in 6-12 months.

What makes Institute of Foundation Models unique

  • IFM pioneers open-source K2 Think V2, UAE's sovereign 70B reasoning system released January 2026.
  • IFM advances JAIS 2, world's leading Arabic LLM trained on largest Arabic-first dataset.
  • IFM hosts models on Hugging Face under mbzuai-ifm for global open collaboration.

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Benefits

Health Insurance

Dental Insurance

Vision Insurance

Paid Vacation

Paid Holidays

Parental Leave

Employee Assistance Program

Life Insurance

Disability Insurance

401(k) Plan

Wellness Program

Flexible Work Hours

Remote Work Options

Hybrid Work Options

Stock Options

Company Equity