(Senior) AI Researcher (f/m/d)

Aleph Alpha Research’s mission is to deliver category-defining AI innovation that enables open, accessible, and trustworthy deployment of LLM-based GenAI systems in industrial applications. Our organization develops foundational models and next-generation methods that make it easy and affordable for Aleph Alpha’s customers to increase productivity in finance, administration, R&D, logistics, and manufacturing processes.

We’re looking for well-rounded (Senior) AI Researchers with strong engineering profiles and backgrounds in machine learning, foundational models, distributed computing, and AI accelerators. Our team is headquartered in Heidelberg, and while we highly value in-person work, we offer the flexibility to work from Berlin or elsewhere in Germany and with regular travel to onsite events.

This job posting reflects multiple openings across our research teams; during our interview process, we will align your candidacy both in terms of team/focus assignment, but also according to seniority (Junior --> Staff level).

As a (Senior) AI Researcher in Aleph Alpha Research, you'll develop new approaches towards differentiating target capabilities, working backwards from our mission and innovating on behalf of our customers. You'll work in an interdisciplinary SE team -- close to your academic and industry expertise -- to develop novel solutions from idea to production.

Your specific goals depend on the chosen team and focus, including:

• Planning and running pre- and post-training of specialized state-of-the-art models

• Devising novel approaches to make LLMs more capable and fair in multilingual and sensitive domains

• Generating and curating data for training, and expanding our proprietary evaluation framework to validate model performance and capabilities

• Building small and specialized models for specific industrial applications

• Making LLM-based systems inspectable, understandable, validatable, and robust, enabling users to control the behaviour and ethics of models at deployment time

• Research and development of novel approaches and algorithms that improve training and inference of foundation models for practical use in real-world applications 

• Development, training, and maintenance of deep learning models 

• Analysis and benchmarking of state-of-the-art as well as new approaches 

• Collaborating with scientists and engineers at Aleph Alpha, Aleph Alpha Research, chosen external industrial and academic partners, and directly with customers

• Publishing own and collaborative work on machine learning venues, and making code and models source-available for use by the broader research community 

• Engaging in our hiring process and otherwise developing, growing, and mentoring junior scientists 

Basic Qualifications

• 3+ years of experience addressing complex AI challenges, with expertise in one or more of the following: self-supervised learning, large-scale and distributed training, natural language processing, reinforcement learning, or explainable deep learning

• Proven ability to apply advanced scientific methods to novel problems, resulting in impactful outputs such as publications or projects

• Proficiency in Python and at least one major deep-learning framework (e.g., PyTorch), with experience implementing advanced methods like transformers or modifying their core structures

• Solid understanding of AI/ML techniques, algorithms, tools, and end-to-end system deployment, including preprocessing pipelines on cloud infrastructure

• PhD in machine learning, computer science, or a related field, with demonstrated thought leadership in research or technical innovation

• Ready to work from Heidelberg or Berlin, or otherwise come to our Heidelberg office regularly

Preferred Qualifications

• Demonstrated leadership in pioneering research or influencing organizational research agendas through high-impact contributions and top-tier publications

• Experience training and deploying large-scale machine learning models (10B+ parameters) and driving innovation in their design or implementation

• Fluency in writing scientific documentation and proposals, with strong public speaking skills in scientific contexts

• Strong collaborative and interpersonal skills, with a track record of contributing to a multidisciplinary team's technical and strategic success

• Become part of an AI revolution!

• 30 days of paid vacation

• Access to a variety of fitness & wellness offerings via Wellhub

• Mental health support through nilo.health

• Substantially subsidized company pension plan for your future security

• Subsidized Germany-wide transportation ticket

• Budget for additional technical equipment

• Flexible working hours for better work-life balance and hybrid working model

• Virtual Stock Option Plan

• JobRad® Bike Lease