Key Responsibilities- The Post-Training team focuses on adapting foundation models to real-world performance and alignment requirements. Researchers develop and evaluate techniques such as supervised fine-tuning, preference optimization (DPO, RLHF, RLAIF), and continual adaptation to align models with Distyl's enterprise systems. The goal is to bridge raw model capability with trustworthy, contextually aligned system behavior
- Researchers in Post-Training investigate new methods for aligning large models with human and system-level objectives. They explore trade-offs between generalization and specialization, data efficiency and robustness, capability and controllability. Their work informs how Distyl leverages foundation models safely, effectively, and at scale across industries
What We Require- Deep Understanding of Post-training Techniques: Familiarity with supervised fine-tuning, preference optimization (RLHF/DPO), LoRA/PEFT, and instruction-tuning pipelines.
- Experience Adapting Frontier Models: You've tuned or adapted LLMs/SLMs to specialized domains or behaviors through data curation, reward modeling, or continual pretraining.
- Experience Building with Models, Not Just Building Models: We develop intelligent systems using models rather than training or fine-tuning them. Ideal candidates have expertise in compound AI systems, agentic collaboration, and associated techniques (ensembling, ReAct, graph-of-thoughts, etc.).
- Proven Track Record of Research Results: Whether you've published in top journals, posted amazing work on twitter, or somewhere else we want to see what you've done.
- Uses AI Every Day: Before you can revolutionize someone else's workflow, you need to revolutionize yours. You should be using tools like ChatGPT, Cursor, and Perplexity to accelerate your workflow.
- Strong Programming and Data Analysis Skills: While you might not consider yourself a software engineer you need to be able to build prototypes of your ideas and then perform the experiments to prove the effectiveness to a F500 Head of AI.
- Biases Towards Showing vs Telling: Our customers want to see the power of AI today vs discuss the most elegant idea that will take 5 years to realize.
What We Offer- The base salary range for this role is $150K - $250K, depending on experience, location, and level. In addition to base compensation, this role is eligible for meaningful equity, along with a comprehensive benefits package
- 100% coverage of medical, dental, and vision insurance for employee and dependents
- Flexible time off
- Retirement and financial planning benefits, including access to pre-tax HSA, FSA, and commuter accounts, 401(k), and financial coaching resources
- Comprehensive wellness benefits, including physical fitness, mental well-being, and fertility and family-building benefits through Carrot
- Complimentary in-office lunches and snacks provided
- Access to state-of-the-art AI models, generous usage of modern AI tools, and real-world business problems
- Ownership of high-impact projects across top enterprises
- A mission-driven, fast-moving culture that values curiosity, pragmatism, and excellence
Distyl has offices in San Francisco and New York. This role follows a hybrid collaboration model with 3+ days per week (Tuesday-Thursday) in-office.
#LI-Hybrid
