We are looking for a versatile Research Engineer with a strong background in machine learning or 3D, software development, and systems design. This role is ideal for someone excited about bridging cutting-edge research with practical engineering, and who thrives on solving diverse technical challenges across modeling, infrastructure, and product development.
You’ll work closely with researchers, engineers, and product teams to design, build, and deploy advanced models and systems in real-world applications on the cutting edge of spatial intelligence. The role emphasizes hands-on contributions across the entire lifecycle—exploration, prototyping, experimentation, and production deployment. You will help ensure our technology continues to push boundaries in AI and remains robust, scalable, and impactful.
Key ResponsibilitiesResearch, design, and implement machine learning models and systems across multiple domains (vision, generative AI, simulation, rendering).
Develop efficient software pipelines and infrastructure for data curation, training, evaluation, and deployment.
Translate research insights into production-ready solutions, collaborating with product teams to meet real-world requirements.
Contribute hands-on to all aspects of the engineering cycle—prototyping, optimization, integration, and scaling.
Stay current with the latest research trends and explore opportunities to apply new methods to product and system development.
Share technical expertise with colleagues, mentor junior team members, and promote engineering best practices.
3+ years of experience in applied machine learning, research engineering, 3D, or related development roles, ideally in fast-paced or startup environments.
Proficiency with ML frameworks such as PyTorch or TensorFlow, and solid understanding of generative modeling, deep learning, or reinforcement learning.
Demonstrated ability to work across different problem domains (e.g., computer vision, simulation, graphics, or systems).
Proven track record of delivering robust prototypes and/or production systems.
Strong coding skills in Python (additional experience with C++ or CUDA a plus) and comfort with GPU-accelerated computing.
Strong problem-solving skills with the ability to adapt quickly, manage ambiguity, and operate in a dynamic environment.
Excellent communication skills, with the ability to work effectively across research and product-focused teams.
Contributions to open-source projects in ML, systems, or developer tools.
Experience with large-scale training or distributed systems (multi-GPU or multi-node).
Familiarity with deployment and integration of ML models in production settings.
Experience writing efficient low-level code (e.g., CUDA kernels, performance optimization).
Top Skills
What We Do
World Labs is a spatial intelligence company building Large World Models (LWMs) to perceive, generate, and interact with the 3D world. We aim to lift AI models from the 2D plane of pixels to full 3D worlds – both virtual and real – endowing them with spatial intelligence as rich as our own.
We believe that humans are innovative, curious, and creative; science and technology are both manifestations and drivers of these impulses. Propelling AI forward with spatial intelligence will also propel forward both individuals and humanity as a whole. Toward this goal, World Labs will develop spatially intelligent LWMs that can understand and reason about the 3D world from images and other modalities. Over time, we expect to train increasingly powerful models with broader capabilities that can be applied in a variety of domains, working alongside people.
These are ambitious goals, so we are building an ambitious company to tackle them. Our team, led by co-founders Fei-Fei Li, PhD; Justin Johnson, PhD; Christoph Lassner, PhD; and Ben Mildenhall, PhD, has a strong research background, but we are not motivated by exploration for its own sake. Instead, we believe that now is a unique moment where rapid scientific progress has thinned the barrier between research and applications. We aim to seize this opportunity, focusing on the entire throughline from research to engineering to product to people.
We are bringing together the most formidable slate of pixel talent ever assembled, creating a tight feedback loop between our spatially intelligent foundation models and products that will empower our users. We invite you to learn more about joining our fast-growing team.
You can find open positions at jobs.ashbyhq.com/worldlabs.