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Forterra · 9 hours ago

Senior/Staff AI Engineer - Large Language Models (LLM)

East Palo Alto, CA

Full-time

Onsite

Senior Level, Lead/Staff

$160K/yr - $210K/yr

Forterra is a leading provider of autonomous systems for ground-based movement. They are seeking a researcher/engineer with expertise in large language models and multimodal AI to design and develop methods for intelligent systems, impacting real-world AI capabilities.

Defense & Space

Growth Opportunities

No H1B

Security Clearance Required

U.S. Citizen Only

Responsibilities

Research and prototype new methods to extend LLMs with reasoning capabilities

Develop and optimize multimodal pipelines combining text, vision, and structured data

Adapt and scale models for real-time, safe, and efficient performance

Define evaluation strategies to measure robustness, reliability, and uncertainty in reasoning

Work cross-functionally with research and engineering teams to bring ideas into production

Qualification

Large Language ModelsPythonDeep Learning FrameworksMachine LearningMultimodal MLTransformer-based ModelsProbabilistic MethodsResearch TranslationProblem-solvingCollaboration

Required

Proficiency in Python and modern deep learning frameworks (PyTorch, or TensorFlow)

Strong foundations in machine learning and reasoning algorithms

Experience with scaling and optimizing LLMs for efficiency (e.g., distillation, quantization, inference optimization)

Excellent problem-solving and collaboration skills

A strong background in transformer-based models and LLMs

Hands-on experience with multimodal ML (e.g., vision-language, text + spatiotemporal data)

Solid understanding of probabilistic methods, uncertainty modeling, or decision-making under uncertainty

Proven ability to translate research into practical implementations

Preferred

Experience working on real-time or safety-critical AI systems

Publications in top ML/AI conferences (e.g., NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, CVPR)

Contributions to open-source ML frameworks or toolkits

Curiosity and drive to explore explainable and reliable AI reasoning

Benefits

Premium Healthcare Benefits: Three plan options, including an HSA-eligible plan, with Forterra covering 80% of the plan premium for you and your dependents.

Basic Life/AD&D, short and long-term disability insurance plans 100% covered by Forterra, plus the option to purchase additional life insurance for you and your dependents.

Extremely generous company holiday calendar including a winter break in December.

Competitive paid time off (PTO) offering 20 days accrued per year.

A minimum of 7 weeks fully paid parental leave for birth/adoption.

$9k annual tuition reimbursement or professional development stipend.

Fully stocked beverage refrigerators with all the Celsius your little heart desires.

401(k) retirement savings plan, including traditional, Roth 401(k), and after-tax deferral with company match up to 4%.