Vast.ai
San Francisco
Applied AI
$160K – $320K
Posted 3 months ago
Verified open on Oct 4, 2026 · posted 93 days ago
Vast.ai’s cloud powers AI projects and businesses all over the world. We are democratizing and decentralizing AI computing—reshaping our future for the benefit of humanity.
We are a growing and highly motivated team dedicated to an ambitious technical plan. Our structure is flat, our ambitions are out‑sized, and leadership is earned by shipping excellence.
We seek engineers with strong intrinsic drive, a true passion for advancing the state of the art, and a mix of architecture, coding, and communication skills.
LOCATION: On-site at our office in San Francisco or Westwood, Los Angeles.
As an Agent Research Engineer, you will help advance the highest levels of the tech stack to imbue AI systems with true agency. Collaborating directly with our technical founder and diverse team, we will build the next generation of general learning agents. Possessing and maintaining a wide, deep and holistic knowledge base of cutting-edge research is crucial for advancing the mission. Many are called, but few are chosen.
Full-Time
On-site at either our SF or LA offices
Python, Engrish, LLMs, ANNs, C++/Cuda
Deep expertise in systems engineering across the tech stack
Strong holistic background in machine learning theory and practice
Diverse knowledge of neural architectures/circuits: transformers etc
Published research at top AI conferences
Lead cutting-edge research in AI agents, focusing on memory, reliability, and reasoning
Prototype and evaluate novel state-of-the-art methods/models
After submitting your application, our technical team reviews your credentials. If selected, you'll proceed through the following stages:
Initial screening (virtual 15 minutes)
Quick dive into Vast, systems and architectures (virtual 30 minutes)
LLM assisted coding assessment (virtual 1 hour)
Meet and greet with coding assessment (on-site 2 hours)
Our goal is to complete the interview process in two weeks.
Comprehensive health, dental, vision, and life insurance
401(k) with company match
Meaningful early-stage equity
Onsite meals, snacks, and close collaboration with founders/tech leaders
Ambitious, fast-paced startup culture where initiative is rewarded
Not ready to apply?
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This role is classified as Applied AI.
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$195k - $255k is the middle 50% of disclosed salaries, measured from 425 live Applied AI postings on this board. Roughly two thirds of postings disclose nothing, so this describes the ones that do, not the whole market.
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