Artificial Intelligence Research Engineer

About Numenta

Numenta is building the next generation of AI. We believe today’s AI architectures are hitting fundamental limits — in efficiency, in reasoning, and in how they learn. Our team is creating radically new architectures grounded in neuroscience principles. These are not incremental improvements — they are the foundations of a fundamentally different and more capable kind of intelligence. We are looking for a senior Research Engineer to help invent, build, and validate these new systems. Join us!

Job Description

As a Research Engineer, you will be a core member of our machine learning models group, transforming innovative concepts into tangible intelligent algorithms, systems, and products alongside other researchers and the product team. Prior neuroscience experience is not a requirement for this position, but you should believe that the best way to build truly intelligent machines is to leverage neuroscience-based principles, and not just scale conventional Transformers.

This is a full-time position.

Key Responsibilities

• Design and implement new neuroscience-inspired learning algorithms and architectures for efficient computations.
• Test these algorithms on benchmarks, diagnostics, and mechanistic analyses (both existing and new).
• Design rigorous experiments with clear hypotheses, metrics, expected outcomes, and negative controls to validate new algorithms.
• Write publications and make presentations describing the algorithms.
• Participate in designing, improving, and optimizing our AI code framework for large-scale training.

Required Qualifications

• PhD (preferred) in computer science, machine learning, theoretical neuroscience, EE, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
• Significant research and/or work experience in artificial intelligence or machine learning, with proven experience designing novel learning algorithms or architectures (not just training or fine-tuning existing models).
• Excellent programming skills in Python, with hands-on experience with PyTorch training.
• Demonstrated ability to think from first principles or think outside the box, stay current with the leading edge of AI technology, create or extend novel ideas, and quickly prototype a proof of concept.
• Deep understanding of back propagation, deep-learning concepts, Transformers and internal Transformer representations.
• Comfortable with alternative ideas (e.g. Hopfield networks, variational algorithms, state space models, RNNs, or sparse representations).
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including some publications.
• Excellent algorithmic and problem-solving skills.
• Demonstrated ability to work in a team-oriented environment.

Desired Qualifications

• Working knowledge of Numenta’s papers and algorithms (e.g. sparse distributed representations or active dendrites).

• Experience with optimizing deep-learning architectures for efficient training and/or inference (e.g. quantization, sparsity, distillation).

• Experience with RLHF and curating datasets for training large-language models.

• Academic research experience in computational neuroscience.

What We Offer

• A role at the forefront of the AI revolution with a company shaping the future of intelligent computing.

• A high degree of autonomy and responsibility from the outset, with significant opportunities for professional growth.

• The chance to work with a world-class team of scientists and engineers.

• A vibrant startup culture that values innovation, creativity, and collaboration.

Job Location: Numenta is located on the San Francisco Peninsula in downtown Menlo Park, a short walk from the Caltrain station. Our local team works at least two days in the office and on other days remotely. Fully remote work is not an option for this position.

Compensation: At Numenta, we offer a competitive salary reflective of the candidate’s expertise. Our compensation package includes full medical, dental, and vacation benefits. The base annual salary range for this position for candidates residing in the San Francisco Bay Area is $200,000 to $275,000 ; exact salary will depend on the candidate’s experience level and fit to the job description. We also include a competitive stock option package, ensuring a shared stake in our future success.

How To Apply

To apply, please send your resume and a cover letter to careers@numenta.com. The cover letter must state your specific fit to Numenta’s technology and products, and the requirements above.

Numenta is an equal opportunity employer supporting workforce diversity.

Join us at Numenta to help shape the future of AI. Apply today!