Lila Sciences · 2 days ago
Machine Learning Scientist I/II, Multi-Modal Scientific Reasonings
Cambridge, MA USA
Full-time
Onsite
Entry, Mid Level
$176K/yr - $304K/yrLila Sciences is the world’s first scientific superintelligence platform and autonomous lab for life, chemistry, and materials science. They are seeking a Machine Learning Scientist to advance multi-modal reasoning with vision-language models on real-world scientific data. The role involves leading research on multi-modal reasoning systems, designing training methods, building datasets, and collaborating with domain scientists to scale research into production-ready systems.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)Foundational AILife ScienceSoftware
Responsibilities
Lead research on multi‑modal reasoning systems that interpret scientific data (images, plots, text, etc) using state‑of‑the‑art and custom VLMs
Design training, adaptation and test-time methods and strategies (e.g., instruction tuning, supervised learning, RLHF, RAG) for scientific understanding tasks
Build datasets and benchmarks from real scientific artifacts (e.g., microscopy, spectra, protocols) to understand model performance
Develop perception modules (e.g, OCR, table/structure recognition, plot parsing) for multi-modal data modalities
Collaborate with domain scientists and engineers to scale research into production ready systems for scientific superintelligence
Qualification
Required
Advanced degree in a relevant field (CS/AI, Applied Math/Stats, EE) or a physical‑sciences discipline (Materials, Chemistry, Physics) with strong ML focus; or equivalent research/industry experience
Track record in multi‑modal ML or VLMs demonstrated via shipped systems, publications, or open‑source
Understanding of scientific QA/benchmarks and custom evaluation design
Experience with multi-modal fine-tuning, document parsing & understanding, dataset curation and benchmarking
Strong engineering skills centered on modern machine learning frameworks (e.g., PyTorch, Huggingface)
Clear communication and collaboration in cross‑functional settings
Preferred
Experience with scientific data modalities in real-world laboratories such as microscopy images
Publications in top ML/CV/NLP venues or tangible impact in applied industrial research
Contributions to open‑source multi‑modal tooling, evaluation suites, or datasets
Benefits
Bonus potential
Generous early equity
Company
Lila Sciences
Lila Sciences creates a scientific superintelligence platform and autonomous labs for life sciences, chemistry, and materials science. It is a sub-organization of Flagship Pioneering.
Founded in 2023
201-500 employees
H1B Sponsorship
Lila Sciences 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 (8)
Funding
Current Stage
Growth StageTotal Funding
$550.67MKey Investors
ARIANVenturesBraidwell,Collective Global Management
2026-01-20Grant· $0.67M
2025-10-14Series A· $115M
2025-09-14Series A· $235M
Recent News
MIT Technology Review
2026-01-22
2026-01-03
2025-12-17
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