AI Researcher, Core ML (turbo)

at Together AI · Data AI · San Francisco, CA · Research

AI Researcher focused on the intersection of efficient inference algorithms, architectures, engines, and post-training/RL systems for production-scale API services. The role involves advancing inference efficiency, unifying inference with RL/post-training, and owning critical systems.

What you'd actually do

  1. Advance inference efficiency end‑to‑end
  2. Unify inference with RL / post‑training
  3. Own critical systems at production scale
  4. Provide technical leadership (Staff level)

Skills

Required

  • ML systems
  • large-scale model training
  • inference
  • RL algorithms
  • training engines
  • kernels
  • serving systems
  • SGLang
  • vLLM
  • speculative decoding

Nice to have

  • post-training
  • RLHF
  • reward modeling
  • interpretability
  • asynchronous RL
  • rollout collection
  • scheduling
  • batching

What the JD emphasized

  • production scale
  • frontier models
  • full-stack ownership
  • deep expertise
  • complex technical projects end-to-end

Other signals

  • efficient inference
  • RL-driven training
  • production scale systems
  • frontier models
Read full job description

About the Role

The Turbo team sits at the intersection of efficient inference (algorithms, architectures, engines) and post‑training / RL systems. We build and operate the systems behind Together’s API, including high‑performance inference and RL/post‑training engines that can run at production scale.

Our mandate is to push the frontier of efficient inference and RL‑driven training: making models dramatically faster and cheaper to run, while improving their capabilities through RL‑based post‑training (e.g., GRPO‑style objectives). This work lives at the interface of algorithms and systems: asynchronous RL, rollout collection, scheduling, and batching all interact with engine design, creating many knobs to tune across the RL algorithm, training loop, and inference stack. Much of the job is modifying production inference systems—for example, SGLang‑ or vLLM‑style serving stacks and speculative decoding systems such as ATLAS—grounded in a strong understanding of post‑training and inference theory, rather than purely theoretical algorithm design.

You’ll work across the stack—from RL algorithms and training engines to kernels and serving systems—to build and improve frontier models via RL pipelines. People on this team are often spiky: some are more RL‑first, some are more systems‑first. Depth in one of these areas plus appetite to collaborate across (and grow toward more full‑stack ownership over time) is ideal.

Requirements

We don’t expect anyone to check every box below. People on this team typically have deep expertise in one or more areas and enough breadth (or interest) to work effectively across the stack. The closer you are to full‑stack (inference + post‑training/RL + systems), the stronger the fit—but being spiky in one area and eager to grow is absolutely okay.

You might be a good fit if you:

  • Have strong expertise in at least one of the following, and are excited to collaborate across (and grow into) the others:
  • Are comfortable working from algorithms to engines:
  • Have a solid research foundation in your area(s) of depth:
  • Operate well as a full‑stack problem solver:

Minimum qualifications

  • 3+ years of experience working on ML systems, large‑scale model training, inference, or adjacent areas (or equivalent experience via research / open source).
  • Advanced degree in Computer Science, EE, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
  • Demonstrated experience owning complex technical projects end‑to‑end.

If you’re excited about the role and strong in some of these areas, we encourage you to apply even if you don’t meet every single requirement.

Responsibilities

  • Advance inference efficiency end‑to‑end
  • Unify inference with RL / post‑training
  • Own critical systems at production scale
  • Provide technical leadership (Staff level)

About Together AI

Together AI is a research-driven artificial intelligence company. We believe open and transparent AI systems will drive innovation and create the best outcomes for society, and together we are on a mission to significantly lower the cost of modern AI systems by co-designing software, hardware, algorithms, and models. We have contributed to leading open-source research, models, and datasets to advance the frontier of AI, and our team has been behind technological advancement such as FlashAttention, Hyena, FlexGen, and RedPajama. We invite you to join a passionate group of researchers in our journey in building the next generation AI infrastructure.

Compensation

We offer competitive compensation, startup equity, health insurance and other competitive benefits. The US base salary range for this full-time position is: $200,000 - $280,000 + equity + benefits. Our salary ranges are determined by location, level and role. Individual compensation will be determined by experience, skills, and job-related knowledge.

Equal Opportunity

Together AI is an Equal Opportunity Employer and is proud to offer equal employment opportunity to everyone regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity, veteran status, and more.

Please see our privacy policy at https://www.together.ai/privacy