Applied AI Researcher

Tetra • New York City, NY

1d

About The Position

Applied AI researchers at Tetra track developments in LLMs and AI research, figure out what's genuinely useful versus what isn't yet, and help shape what we build and how we build it. You'll work with our engineers and forward-deployed team to bring new techniques into real client systems, and you'll help the company make good decisions about product direction based on where the technology is heading. This role is a mix of research and application. You need to understand the research deeply, but the goal is always to turn that understanding into something that works in production for a real business.

Requirements

• Experience applying AI research to real-world problems
• The ability to read a new paper or model release and quickly judge whether it matters for us
• Strong engineering skills: you can build prototypes and work closely with the team to ship them
• Clear communication, especially the ability to explain technical ideas simply
• Good judgment about what's real and what's hype
• Comfort working in an early-stage environment where priorities shift and you often define your own work

Nice To Haves

• A background in machine learning, NLP, or a related research field (industry or academic)
• Hands-on experience with LLM APIs, fine-tuning, retrieval, agents, or evaluation
• Experience turning research into production systems
• Published research or open-source contributions
• Experience working directly with non-technical teams or clients

Responsibilities

• Be hyper-current on LLM and AI research (new models, papers, techniques, and tools) and translate that into clear, practical guidance for the team
• Test and evaluate new models and methods to figure out which ones are worth using and where they fit
• Work with engineers to bring promising techniques into the systems we build for clients
• Help shape Tetra's product direction by advising on where the technology is going and what that means for us
• Build prototypes and run experiments to answer real questions about what's possible today
• Set up ways to measure whether AI-driven systems we deploy are working well (accuracy, reliability, cost, etc)
• Share your research clearly (when applicable), both privately and publicly

Benefits

• We are an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or protected veteran status.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: No Education Listed