Applied Research Engineer - Member of Technical Staff

Simile • San Francisco, CA

2d

About The Position

Simile is developing the first AI simulation of society, populated by generative agents based on real humans. We have pioneered the field of AI-based simulation, proving it is possible to model human behavior with high accuracy. We are now developing a Foundation Model to predict human behavior in any situation, at any scale. As a Member of Technical Staff (MTS) in Research, you will work across the stack to train, evaluate, deploy, and monitor our models of human behavior. This role requires intense scientific rigor and involves owning the research cycle end-to-end, from designing experiments and validating results to owning the 'last-mile' work of deployment. You will extract insights from unique datasets, master hardware for running experiments on GPUs, lead scientific discovery through rigorous evaluations, push the state-of-the-art in simulation research, and own the lifecycle from hypothesis to production-ready model.

Requirements

• Masters Degree in Computer Science, Math, Statistics, Deep Learning, Computational Social Science, or a related field.
• High proficiency in Python and hands-on experience with modern ML frameworks and AI coding tools.
• Experience running experiments on GPUs and a deep understanding of the training/fine-tuning lifecycle for large-scale models.
• Ability to navigate the frontier of ML research, with the technical skill to reproduce complex papers and the writing skill to document new breakthroughs.
• A desire to own the full stack of research, from the first line of data processing code to the final deployment in a production environment.

Nice To Haves

• Experience in social science modeling or behavioral economics.
• Familiarity with distributed training and optimizing inference for multi-agent environments.

Responsibilities

• Extract Insight from Unique Data: Work with massive, proprietary datasets that represent the breadth of human experience, including long-form unstructured interviews, large-scale polls, and passively collected behavioral data.
• Master the Hardware: Write code for the latest NVIDIA chips. You will be responsible for running high-stakes experiments on GPUs and staying at the forefront of modern language model training and fine-tuning methodologies.
• Lead Scientific Discovery: Design rigorous evaluations and conduct experiments that go beyond standard benchmarks to prove the fidelity of our behavioral simulations.
• Push the State-of-the-Art: Stay immersed in the latest developments in simulation research. You will frequently reproduce, critique, and improve upon existing academic papers, maintaining a high standard for academic-quality writing and documentation.
• Own the Lifecycle: Bridge the gap between a research hypothesis and a production-ready model, ensuring that our 'flight simulators' for society are grounded in statistical truth.

Benefits

• Competitive compensation packages that include base salary, equity, and comprehensive benefits.
• Equity: Grants are available for eligible roles, subject to board approval.
• Health & Wellness: Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage.
• Time Off: Flexible time off policies to support work-life balance.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level