Applied Researcher, Perception (AI)

TL;DR

Applied Researcher, Perception (AI): Developing and optimizing Vision-Language-Action (VLA) and VLM architectures for self-driving technology with an accent on identifying model failure points and rebuilding architectures. Focus on bridging academic theory with scalable production-ready code and leveraging high-performance computing environments.

Location: Hybrid (Mountain View, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, or Seattle). Must be in office at least 3 days per week.

Company

hirify.global is developing self-driving technology to create a safer, more efficient, and more accessible transportation ecosystem.

What you will do

• Explore and evaluate VLM/VLA architectures to determine their viability for specific autonomous driving problem sets.
• Act as the subject matter expert and technical guide for the engineering team.
• Translate high-level academic research and papers into scalable, production-ready code.
• Redesign and optimize model architectures to leverage high-performance supercomputing environments.
• Identify 'jagged edges'—points of failure in current state-of-the-art models—to rebuild architecture from the ground up.

Requirements

• Recent PhD in AI, Computer Science, or Robotics from a top-tier research lab.
• Deep expertise in Vision-Language Models (VLM) and Vision-Language-Action (VLA) models.
• Proven ability to troubleshoot current AI architectures and identify failure points.
• Experience translating complex research into production-ready code.
• Willingness to mentor existing team members and bridge knowledge gaps.
• Must be based in or able to work from the provided US office locations (Hybrid).

Culture & Benefits

• Collaborative work environment based on integrity and winning together.
• Access to large-scale infrastructure and supercomputing environments.
• Strong commitment to safety and inclusive hiring practices.
• Hybrid work model designed to increase collaboration and empathy.