Research Scientist, Asta

Persons in these roles are expected to work from our offices in Seattle. On-site requirements vary based on position and team. If you have questions about on-site work arrangements for this role, please ask your recruiter.

Our base salary range is $167,030 - $260,570, and in addition we have generous bonus plans to provide a competitive compensation package.

Who You Are:

You are a creative, hands-on AI researcher with a strong foundation in AI and reasoning. Passionate about pushing the boundaries of research and engineering, you seek to advance AI both scientifically and openly. You thrive in collaborative environments, take initiative, and are eager to contribute to Ai2’s impact-driven mission in a dynamic, fast-paced research setting. Skilled at translating complex concepts into concrete research goals and implementation steps, you define clear approaches, execute effectively, and communicate results with clarity. You leverage these skills to create real-world benefits for researchers and practitioners alike and are excited to help drive the development of the best-performing open AI model.

Who We Are:

We are a non-profit AI institute, focused on developing foundational AI research and innovation to deliver real-world impact through large-scale open models, the science of agentic systems, data, and artifacts (e.g., OpenScholar, OLMo, Tulu, and Scholar QA). We unite the best and brightest scientific and engineering minds to explore the potential of truly open AI. Through our efforts we endeavor to empower academics, researchers, and AI developers more broadly to advance language models and reasoning-based agentic systems. Through close collaboration, we rapidly identify, define, and act on the most exciting and promising new ideas in AI.

Our team is focused on developing Asta, an agentic system aimed at revolutionizing how science is performed. We engage in language model post-training, generating and curating data, layering control strategies (e.g., POMDPs) atop LLMs, and developing novel methodologies to push the field forward. We study and evaluate AI models both theoretically and empirically, aiming to advance their capabilities. Additionally, we create impactful real-world applications, such as in scientific synthesis. Our goal is to develop state-of-the-art models that excel in scientific reasoning spanning literature synthesis, hypothesis formation, scientific coding, execution of computational experiments, and data analysis. These systems will collaborate with human scientists, not replace them.

Your Next Challenge:

As a key member of the core team of research scientists and machine learning engineers at Ai2, you will drive the development of AI systems with deep reasoning capabilities with a focus on the huge breadth of skills necessary for scientific reasoning. In this role, you will lead foundational research to advance agentic systems, shape our strategic direction, and lay the groundwork for future innovations. You will also work towards long-term ambitious research goals, while identifying intermediate milestones.

The essential functions include, but are not limited to the following:

• Contribute to Ai2’s open source research environment to innovate, study and advance the science of generative AI and agentic systems.
• Take a leading role in building artifacts and implementing software systems with real-world impact
• Author and present high-quality scientific technical reports, papers, and presentations
• Collaborate with and learn from team members across Ai2, including scientists and engineers
• Mentor early-career researchers and interns on their projects
• Develop collaborative relationships with relevant academic, industrial, government, and standards organizations

What You’ll Need:

• A PhD focusing on machine learning, reasoning, natural language processing, or a related area, with expertise in one or more of the following: reinforcement learning, experimental methodology, language models, the science of deep learning, or efficient algorithms for deep learning. Curiosity about all of the above is a plus.
• The ability to own and pursue a research agenda to improve AI model reasoning capabilities.
• Enthusiasm for collaboration and teamwork on ambitious projects aligned with company goals.
• Experience leading a team to solve analytical problems (a plus).
• Contributions to open-source research libraries and an interest in continuing such work (a plus).

Physical Demands and Work Environment:

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by a team member to successfully perform the essential functions of this position. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the functions.

• Must be able to remain in a stationary position for long periods of time.
• The ability to communicate information and ideas so others will understand. Must be able to exchange accurate information in these situations.
• The ability to observe details at close range.
• Can work under deadlines.

A Little More About Ai2:

Ai2 is a Seattle based non-profit AI research institute founded in 2014 by the late Paul Allen. Our mission is building breakthrough AI to solve the world’s biggest problems. We develop foundational AI research and innovation to deliver real-world impact through large-scale open models, data, robotics, conservation, and beyond.

In addition to Ai2’s core mission, we also aim to contribute to humanity through our treatment of each member of the Ai2 Team. Some highlights are:

• We are a learning organization – because everything Ai2 does is ground-breaking, we are learning every day. Similarly, through weekly Ai2 Academy lectures, a wide variety of world-class AI experts as guest speakers, and our commitment to your personal on-going education, Ai2 is a place where you will have opportunities to continue learning alongside your coworkers.
• We value diversity - We seek to hire, support, and promote people from all genders, ethnicities, and all levels of experience regardless of age. We particularly encourage applications from women, non-binary individuals, people of color, members of the LGBTQA+ community, and people with disabilities of any kind.
• We value inclusion - We understand the value that people's individual experiences and perspectives can bring to an organization, and we are building a culture in which all voices are heard, respected and considered.
• We emphasize a healthy work/life balance – we believe our team members are happiest and most productive when their work/life balance is optimized. While we value powerful research results which drive our mission forward, we also value dinner with family, weekend time, and vacation time. We offer generous paid vacation and sick leave as well as family leave.
• We are collaborative and transparent – we consider ourselves a team, all moving with a common purpose. We are quick to cheer our successes, and even quicker to share and jointly problem solve our failures.
• We are in Seattle – and our office is on the water! We have mountains, we have lakes, we have four seasons, we bike to work, we have a vibrant theater scene, and we have so much else. We even have kayaks for you to paddle right outside our front door. We welcome interest from applicants from outside of the United States.
• We are friendly– chances are you will like every one of the 200+ (and growing) people who work here. We do.

Ai2 is proud to be an Equal Opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, transgender status, sexual stereotypes, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics. You may view the related Know Your Rights compliance poster and the Pay Transparency Nondiscrimination Provision by clicking on their corresponding links.

This employer participates in E-Verify and will provide the federal government with your Form I-9 information to confirm that you are authorized to work in the U.S. If E-Verify cannot confirm that you are authorized to work, this employer is required to give you written instructions and an opportunity to contact the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) or Social Security Administration (SSA) so you can begin to resolve the issue before the employer can take any action against you, including terminating your employment. Employers can only use E-Verify once you have accepted a job offer and completed the Form I-9.

We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations to employees and applicants with disabilities to the full extent required by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). If you feel you need a reasonable accommodation pursuant to the ADA, you are encouraged to contact us at recruiting@allenai.org.

Benefits:

• Team members and their families are covered by medical, dental, vision, basic life insurance, basic accidental death and dismemberment insurance, short-term disability, long-term disability, and an employee assistance program.
• Team members are able to enroll in our voluntary life insurance program, our voluntary accidental death and dismemberment program, our health savings account plan, our healthcare reimbursement arrangement plan, and our health care and dependent care flexible spending account plans.
• Team members are able to enroll in our company’s 401k plan.
• Team members will receive $125 per month to assist with commuting or internet expenses and will also receive $200 per month for fitness and wellbeing expenses.
• Team members will also receive up to ten sick days per year, up to seven personal days per year, up to 20 vacation days per year and twelve paid holidays throughout the calendar year.
• Team members will be able to receive annual bonuses and can participate in the long-term incentive plan.

Note: This job description in no way states or implies that these are the only duties to be performed by the team members(s) of this position. Team members will be required to follow any other job-related instructions and to perform any other job-related duties requested by any person authorized to give instructions or assignments. All duties and responsibilities are essential functions and requirements and are subject to possible modification to reasonably accommodate individuals with disabilities. To perform this job successfully, the team member(s) will possess the skills, aptitudes, and abilities to perform each duty proficiently. Some requirements may exclude individuals who pose a direct threat or significant risk to the health or safety of themselves or others. The requirements listed in this document are the minimum levels of knowledge, skills, or abilities. This document does not create an employment contract, implied or otherwise, other than an at will relationship.