Applied AI Researcher, System Self-Construction

Distyl AI

$150K — $250K *
Information Technology
Less than 5 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 5+ years of experience building modular and composable systems with dynamic interactions.
  • Strong background in developing intelligent systems using advanced AI techniques.
  • Demonstrated research aptitude through published work or impactful projects.
  • Proficiency in using AI tools like ChatGPT and Cursor to enhance personal productivity.
  • Capable of building prototypes and conducting experiments to showcase ideas.
  • Preference for practical demonstrations over theoretical discussions.

Responsibilities

  • Build autonomous systems that can create and refine other systems.
  • Design architectures that efficiently automate complex system creation processes.
  • Explore and develop self-assembling frameworks using advanced AI methodologies.
  • Research and define principles for recursive system design and self-evolution.
  • Utilize compound AI systems and agentic collaboration to tackle complex challenges.

Benefits

  • Opportunity to work at the forefront of LLM research and enterprise innovation.
  • Ownership of significant research projects with high autonomy.
  • Access to cutting-edge AI models and real-world business challenges.
  • Comprehensive health coverage for employees and dependents, with a competitive benefits package.
  • Participation in a mission-driven organization aimed at enhancing productivity through AI.
  • Collaborative environment that fosters innovation and professional development.
Full Job Description
Key Responsibilities
  • The System Self-Construction team builds systems that can build other systems. Researchers design architectures capable of autonomously generating, assembling, and refining sub-systems. This involves developing meta-learning loops, automated pipeline generation, and self-architecting frameworks that reduce the human bottleneck in complex system creation.
  • Researchers in Self-Construction study recursive design principles: how systems represent their own construction processes, evaluate them, and evolve. They draw from meta-learning, program synthesis, and evolutionary computation to explore what it means for a system to \"understand\" and redesign itself. Their work defines the frontier of self-referential, generative system architectures.
Who We Are
  • Experience Building Modular and Composable Systems: You\'ve engineered architectures where components interact dynamically (e.g. graph-based planners, agent orchestration frameworks, workflow engines, or automated pipeline builders).
  • 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

Similar Jobs

More Jobs at Distyl AI

More Information Technology Jobs

Find similar Applied AI Researcher, System Self-Construction jobs: