Applied Researcher (AI)

TL;DR

Applied Researcher (AI/Robotics): Identifying failure points in state-of-the-art models and rebuilding architectures from the ground up for self-driving technology with an accent on architectural exploration and bridging the gap between academic theory and practical, scalable applications. Focus on redesigning and optimizing VLM/VLA model architectures to leverage high-performance computing environments.

Location: Hybrid; must be in office at least 3 days per week (US-based, mentions California applicants)

Company

hirify.global is developing the hirify.global Driver to create a safer, more efficient, and accessible future for mobility and logistics through self-driving technology.

What you will do

• Perform deep dives into VLM/VLA architectures to determine viability for specific autonomous driving problem sets.
• Act as a subject matter expert and provide technical mentorship to the engineering team.
• Translate high-level academic research and complex papers into production-ready, scalable code.
• Redesign and optimize model architectures for high-performance computing and supercomputing environments.

Requirements

• 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.
• Strong proficiency in Python.
• Proven ability to troubleshoot and resolve failure points in current SOTA model architectures.
• Must be able to work in a hybrid environment (office 3+ days per week).

Nice to have

• Strong depth of programming experience in modern C++.

Culture & Benefits

• Collaborative environment focused on winning together without "jerks".
• Hybrid work model to increase empathy and effective leadership.
• Commitment to safety and inclusion in the workplace.
• Opportunity to work with large-scale infrastructure and supercomputing environments.