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Member of Technical Staff - ML Infrastructure Engineer, Post-training

Preference Model

San Francisco, CAFull-timePosted 1mo agoStill listed 2w ago

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At a glance

Compensation
No compensation found
Location
San Francisco, CA
Schedule
Full-time
Work Authorization
Visa required • Visa sponsorship

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Job overview

Preference Model is hiring a Member of Technical Staff - ML Infrastructure Engineer, Post-training. Preference Model is building automated ML research engineering, focusing on creating robust RL training environments and post‑training infrastructure for large language models. The senior ML Infrastructure Engineer will design scalable compute, scheduling, and data systems, develop core ML framework tools, and ensure reliable, high‑throughput research operations.

Key focus areas include Design, build, and scale compute, scheduling, and data infrastructure for post‑training research, Develop and maintain core ML framework primitives and internal tooling for researchers, and Build evaluation, benchmarking, monitoring, logging, debugging, testing, and deployment systems.

Successful candidates bring Experience Building ML Infrastructure, Experience Building Data-Intensive Systems, and Significant Experience With Distributed Systems. Important skills include PyTorch, JAX, AWS, GCP, Kubernetes, and Software Engineering Fundamentals. Preferred (not required): vLLM, SGLang, LLM Training/Inference Internals, and Transformers.

Skills & qualifications

RequiredNice to have

Skills

PyTorchJAXAWSGCPKubernetesSoftware Engineering FundamentalsBuilding Production-Grade InfrastructureDistributed Systems PrinciplesBuilding Systems for High-Throughput, Low-Latency WorkloadsData Engineering ToolsBuilding Robust, Scalable Data PipelinesBalance Production Rigor With Fast-Moving ResearchCommunicate Infrastructure Tradeoffs ClearlyvLLMSGLangLLM Training/Inference InternalsTransformersDistributed TrainingInference LibrariesProduction-Grade InfrastructureHigh-Throughput SystemsLow-Latency WorkloadsScalable Data PipelinesSlimeveRLRayProduction RigorCommunicationLLM Training InternalsLLM Inference InternalsProduction-Grade Infrastructure BuildingDistributed Systems

Qualifications

Experience Building ML InfrastructureExperience Building Data-Intensive SystemsSignificant Experience With Distributed SystemsHands-on Experience With Cloud PlatformsExperience With Container OrchestrationExperience With RL Training Frameworks

Benefits

Medical Insurance
Vision Insurance
Dental Insurance
401(k) Match
Relocation Assistance

Full job description

About Us Preference Model is building automated ML research engineering.

Existing frontier models are brittle when applied to real-world ML tasks. The present bottleneck is the lack of high-quality RL training environments. Our first step is to build RL environments that reflect real-world complexity, with diverse tasks and robust reward functions.

Our founding team has previous experience on Anthropic’s data team building data infrastructure, and datasets behind Claude. We are partnering with leading AI labs to push AI closer to achieving its transformative potential.

About the Role Frontier research moves only as fast as its infrastructure permits. Building solid infrastructure is foundational to our mission of pushing self-directed learning as far as it can go.

We are looking for Senior ML Infrastructure Engineers to build the systems that power the frontier of post-training on large language models . This role involves building scalable infrastructure to enable high-throughput systems and shape how our research is run, bringing us closer to models that can train themselves on what they aren't yet good at.

What You Will Do

  • Design, build, and scale the compute, scheduling, and data infrastructure that powers post-training research on our in-house RL environments

  • Develop and maintain core ML framework primitives and internal tooling that researchers rely on daily, accelerating reproducible experimentation and reducing time from idea to result

  • Build evaluation and benchmarking infrastructure, monitoring, logging, and debugging tooling, and automated testing and deployment systems, so failures are caught early and infrastructure stays reliable as it scales

  • Partner directly with Research Engineers to translate research needs into infrastructure requirements, and ship fast in response to their feedback

What We are Looking For

  • Have strong software engineering fundamentals, experience building production-grade infrastructure (ideally for ML or data-intensive systems), and proficiency in core ML frameworks such as PyTorch or JAX

  • Significant experience and understanding of distributed systems principles, and have hands-on experience with cloud platforms (AWS, GCP) and container orchestration (Kubernetes), building systems for high-throughput, low-latency workloads

  • Have experience with data engineering tools and building robust, scalable data pipelines

  • Experience working on RL training frameworks like Slime, veRL, Ray

  • Have some familiarity with LLM training/inference internals (transformers, distributed training, inference libraries like vLLM or SGLang); deep expertise is a plus, not a requirement

  • Can balance production rigor with the pace of fast-moving research, and communicate infrastructure tradeoffs clearly to researchers who aren't infra specialists

What We Offer:

  • Competitive cash and equity compensation (>90th percentile)

  • Ownership and autonomy in a fast moving startup environment

  • Opportunity to work alongside senior and staff engineers from frontier labs and infrastructure companies, plus top ML engineers

  • Health, vision, dental, benefits

  • 401K match

  • Lunch provided everyday onsite

  • Weekly snack orders

  • Visa sponsorship & relocation support available

We value diverse perspectives and experiences. If you're excited about this role but don't check every box, we still encourage you to apply.

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