Thinking Machines Lab · 1 month ago
Research, Pre-Training Science
San Francisco
Full-time
Onsite
Senior Level
$350K/yr - $475K/yrThinking Machines Lab's mission is to empower humanity through advancing collaborative general intelligence. The role of pre-training researchers sits at the core of their roadmap, where you will explore new pre-training methods and architectures to enhance model training efficiency and alignment with human goals.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)Foundational AIGenerative AIInformation TechnologyProduct ResearchSoftware
Responsibilities
Research and develop new methodologies for pre-training
Work in areas such as scaling, architecture, algorithms, or optimization of large scale training runs depending on your research interest and experience
Design data curricula and sampling strategies that improve learning dynamics and model generalization
Collaborate with infrastructure and data teams to conduct large-scale experiments efficiently and reproducibly
Publish and present research that moves the entire community forward. Share code, datasets, and insights that accelerate progress across industry and academia
Qualification
Required
Ability to design, run, and analyze experiments thoughtfully, with demonstrated research judgment and empirical rigor
Experience with distributed or high-performance computing environments
Proficiency in Python and familiarity with at least one deep learning framework (e.g., PyTorch, TensorFlow, or JAX). Comfortable with debugging distributed training and writing code that scales
Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Physics, Mathematics, or a related discipline with strong theoretical and empirical grounding
Clarity in communication, an ability to explain complex technical concepts in writing
Preferred
A strong grasp of probability, statistics, and ML fundamentals. You can look at experimental data and distinguish between real effects, noise, and bugs
Prior experience training or analyzing large-scale models, or contributing to pre-training or foundation model research
Strong publication record or open-source contributions in representation learning, optimization, scaling laws, or other areas of pre-training
Familiarity with curriculum learning, data selection, or active learning techniques
Experience designing or maintaining evaluation frameworks for large models
Contributions to open datasets, research publications, or data tooling
PhD in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Physics, Mathematics, or a related discipline with strong theoretical and empirical grounding; or, equivalent industry research experience
Benefits
Generous health, dental, and vision benefits
Unlimited PTO
Paid parental leave
Relocation support as needed
Company
Thinking Machines Lab
Thinking Machines Lab is an AI research and product company that aims to increase understanding and customization of AI systems.
Founded in 2025
11-50 employees
H1B Sponsorship
Thinking Machines Lab has a track record of offering H1B sponsorships. Please note that this does not
guarantee sponsorship for this specific role. Below presents additional info for your
reference. (Data Powered by US Department of Labor)
Distribution of Different Job Fields Receiving Sponsorship
Represents job field similar to this job
Trends of Total Sponsorships
2025 (9)
Funding
Current Stage
Early StageTotal Funding
$2.01BKey Investors
Andreessen HorowitzMinistry of Economy, Culture and Innovation
2025-06-20Seed· $2B
2025-05-05Grant· $9.98M
Leadership Team
Mira Murati
Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Soumith Chintala
Member of Technical Staff
Recent News
2026-01-20
Company data provided by crunchbase