Role ImpactHelp develop the algorithms and systems used to train Prime Intellect's open models with reinforcement learning. We're hiring research engineers and scientists across RL algorithms, scaling research, and training frameworks. Your focus will reflect your strengths; you don't need to cover all three.
ResponsibilitiesAlgorithm research- Develop and test RL methods for reasoning, coding, and long-horizon tasks, including changes to training objectives and policy optimization.
- Investigate stability in asynchronous RL, including policy staleness, trainer/sampler mismatch, and numerical differences between training and rollouts.
- Work with data and evaluation researchers to understand how task selection, rewards, and training data affect what the model learns.
Scaling science- Design experiments to understand how RL performance and learning dynamics change with model size, training compute, and task horizon.
- Use controlled ablations and evaluations to distinguish learning gains from reward exploitation, evaluation artifacts, or training bugs.
- Turn experimental findings into training recipes, then test whether the improvements hold across larger models and longer runs.
RL frameworks- Extend prime-rl to support new algorithms, models, and asynchronous training workflows.
- Improve the performance and numerical correctness of research runs across trainers, rollout workers, and environments, working with the infrastructure team.
- Build diagnostics that make unstable runs and performance regressions easier to reproduce, and help distinguish algorithm problems from implementation or runtime issues.
Requirements- Demonstrated depth in at least one of RL algorithms, empirical research on model training, or distributed ML systems. This could come through research, open-source contributions, or systems you've built.
- Strong programming skills in Python and experience with PyTorch or a comparable ML framework.
- Ability to design controlled experiments, interpret results, and debug unexpected model or system behavior.
- Experience taking a research idea or systems change through implementation, testing, and evaluation, with a clear account of what worked and what didn't.
Nice to have- Experience with distributed training frameworks or asynchronous rollout pipelines.
- Experience diagnosing unstable RL runs, including policy-staleness or numerical issues.
- Work on coding agents, verifiable rewards, or long-horizon environments.
Benefits and Perks- Cash Compensation Range of $150-350k, including equity incentives, aligning your success with the growth and impact of Prime Intellect.
- Flexible work arrangements, with the option to work remotely or in-person at our offices in San Francisco.
- Visa sponsorship and relocation assistance for international candidates.
- Quarterly team off-sites, hackathons, conferences and learning opportunities.
- Opportunity to work with a talented, hard-working and mission-driven team, united by a shared passion for leveraging technology to accelerate science and AI.
If you're excited about the opportunity to build the foundation for the future of decentralized AI and create a platform that empowers developers and researchers to push the boundaries of what's possible, we'd love to hear from you.
