Research Lead, Tinker, Fine-tuning Science

Thinking MachinesSan FranciscoResearch

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Opens the official Thinking Machines careers page

Salary

$350K - $475K USD

Job type

Full-time

Posted

16 Sept 2026

Status

Open · checked 7d ago

About this role

Thinking Machines is currently hiring a full-time Research Lead, Tinker, Fine-tuning Science to join their team in San Francisco with remote flexibility. This position suits an experienced technical leader who wants to drive frontier customization techniques and guide post-training science.

Role Overview

Thinking Machines creates tools that allow individuals to customize artificial intelligence models for specific requirements, which involves training model weights. In this capacity, the professional will head the Fine-tuning Science group, defining the research path for frontier customization methods and for Tinker, the post-training engine. This position functions as a player-coach, meaning the individual will remain actively involved in the science while expanding the group, guiding its strategy, and ensuring discoveries are integrated into Tinker. Collaboration will occur alongside internal research teams, contributing to open science, and interacting with external users.

Key Responsibilities

Establish the research agenda by selecting problems, determining priorities, and managing the roadmap to advance Tinker quality, efficiency, and reliability to the frontier.

Direct and expand the team through hiring, mentoring, and developing researchers while establishing high standards for experimental rigor and research taste.

Maintain hands-on involvement in areas like LoRA, parameter-efficient fine-tuning, and their interactions with reinforcement learning and post-training.

Enhance the stability, efficiency, and dependability of large-scale fine-tuning and reinforcement learning runs utilizing Tinker.

Showcase the work externally via academic papers, technical blog posts, and community engagement.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Physics, Mathematics, or a related discipline featuring strong theoretical and empirical grounding.

A proven history of leading research, including setting direction for a team or a major research initiative and successfully delivering outcomes.

Proficiency in Python alongside familiarity with deep learning frameworks such as PyTorch, TensorFlow, or JAX, plus the ability to debug distributed training and write scalable code.

Clear communication skills with the capability to articulate complex technical concepts in writing and foster alignment across science, systems, infrastructure, and product.

A strong enthusiasm for the mission of enabling custom models.

Nice to Have

A solid understanding of probability, statistics, and machine learning fundamentals to analyze experimental data and differentiate between real effects, noise, and bugs.

Previous experience working with RLHF, RLAIF, preference modeling, or reward learning for large models.

Background in managing or analyzing human data collection campaigns or large-scale annotation workflows.

Research or engineering contributions focused on alignment, data-centric AI, or human-AI collaboration.

Experience dealing with reinforcement learning training stability techniques for large-scale runs.

A PhD in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Physics, Mathematics, or a related field with strong theoretical and empirical grounding, or equivalent industry research experience.

Skills and Tools

Python

PyTorch

TensorFlow

JAX

LoRA

Parameter-efficient fine-tuning

Reinforcement learning

Salary and Benefits

The expected annual salary range for this position is $350,000 to $475,000 USD, determined by background, skills, and experience. Thinking Machines provides generous health, dental, and vision benefits, unlimited paid time off, paid parental leave, and relocation support when necessary. Visa sponsorship is also available for qualified candidates.

About the Company

Thinking Machines aims to build artificial intelligence that extends human will and judgment. The organization trains frontier models using Inkling, creates Tinker to allow individuals to make models their own, and designs interfaces that broaden human-AI communication with the belief that a human future is worth building.

How to Apply

Interested candidates should visit the official Thinking Machines careers page to submit an application for this position.

Skills and tech stack

Python PyTorch TensorFlow JAX Deep Learning Machine Learning Fine-tuning

Questions candidates ask

What is the location of the Research Lead, Tinker role?

The role is based in San Francisco, California, with remote flexibility available.

What is the salary range for this position?

The expected annual salary range is $350,000 to $475,000 USD, depending on background, skills, and experience.

Is visa sponsorship provided?

Yes, Thinking Machines sponsors visas and works through the visa process with the right fit candidate.

What technical skills are required?

Candidates need proficiency in Python and familiarity with deep learning frameworks like PyTorch, TensorFlow, or JAX, along with the ability to debug distributed training.

What benefits are offered by Thinking Machines?

The company offers generous health, dental, and vision benefits, unlimited PTO, paid parental leave, and relocation support.

Ready to apply?

The application is on the official Thinking Machines careers page.

Apply on company site