Technical Staff Member, Research

FirstPrinciples

Research-focused AI role at FirstPrinciples designing and developing innovative solutions for scientific discovery. Collaborate with cross-functional teams to advance scientific research methodologies.

Posted 7/28/2026full-timeRemote • 🇨🇦 CanadaLeadWebsite

Core Competencies

Role fit

Core Competencies

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Demonstrates expertise in developing and evaluating AI models for scientific discovery, with a strong focus on natural language processing, symbolic reasoning, and reinforcement learning. Proficient in collaborating with cross-functional teams to design scalable data ingestion pipelines and communicate complex technical concepts effectively.

Highest-signal resume keywords

PhD In Physics, Computer Science, Data Science, Or Related FieldIn-Depth Research On Scientific AI ModelsFamiliarity With SOTA ModelsStrong Written And Verbal Communication SkillsExperience With Data Infrastructure

ATS Keywords

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Applicant Tracking System Keywords

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Hard Skills

Natural Language ProcessingReinforcement LearningModel Development ProcessesData Ingestion PipelinesSymbolic ReasoningCustom TokenizersStatistical ToolsModel Training JobsBenchmark EstablishmentAI/ML Concepts

Soft Skills

CollaborationCommunicationProblem-SolvingAdaptabilityTeam Leadership

Industry Keywords

Scientific DiscoveryPhysicsMachine LearningDeep LearningStartup EnvironmentCross-Functional TeamsTechnical Trade-OffsData ScienceExperimental DataModel Evaluation

Tech Stack

Tools & technologies

Ruby on Rails

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Research, design, and test novel, research‑specific model architectures that integrate academic literature, natural language processing (NLP), symbolic reasoning, and other methods to orchestrate the scientific process.
Prototype and build custom tokenizers for LaTeX symbols and physical units to be treated as tokens.
Explore alternatives to transformers through in-depth research and provide practical recommendations for model development.
Develop reinforcement-learning loops to enable models to run independent and internal thought experiments.
Design and automate data ingestion pipelines in collaboration with our Data Scientists & Engineers that aggregates science literature, metadata, experimental data, equations and other data sources in a robust and scalable manner.
Establish custom benchmarks to assess the models’ understanding of physical concepts, mathematical reasoning abilities, and ability to minimize hallucinations for the benefit of scientific reliability.
Refine and release datasets and baselines once internal tests are stable.
Run and track model training jobs while leading the technical team through set-up, monitoring progress, and constraining costs within budget.
Develop approaches to stage “practice runs” in a sandbox environment to develop the model’s abilities to explore ideas independently while logging results for later review.
Develop a framework to evaluate the models’ learning using visual and statistical tools to spot patterns and blind spots.
Add guard-rails and tests that flag poor quality model output.
Maintain internal tools to track lists of known issues, noting failures, clear fixes, and improvements to be integrated into future development.
Work with the engineering team to ensure product feasibility and robust architecture.
Translate technical trade-offs to non-technical stakeholders in clear terms.
Present findings in clear updates to the technical team in order to keep the broader team appraised of progress against research milestones.

Requirements

What you’ll need

Educational Background: PhD in physics, computer science, data science, information systems, or related field.
Experience: Proven track record of conducting in-depth research on scientific AI models, symbolic models, machine learning or deep learning for scientific discovery.
Technical Skills: Familiarity with SOTA models, best practices in model development processes, in-depth AI/ML concepts, and data infrastructure.
Collaboration & Communication:
Comfort working closely with engineers and other technical team members.
Strong written and verbal communication skills.
Comfortable working in a startup-style, cross-functional, remote team.
Bonus Skills:
Has experience with or strong interest in physics and/or fundamental science topics.
Experience conducting research on AI models in an early-stage or mission-focused environment.

Benefits

Comp & perks

Join us at FirstPrinciples and be a part of a transformative journey where science drives progress and unlocks the potential of humanity.