Research Engineer, Pre-Training

Details

Anthropic’s mission is to create reliable, interpretable, and steerable AI systems. We are seeking a Research Engineer to join our Pretraining team, responsible for developing the next generation of large language models. In this role you will work at the intersection of cutting-edge research and practical engineering, contributing to safe, steerable, and trustworthy AI systems.

Responsibilities

• Conduct research and implement solutions in areas such as model architecture, algorithms, data processing, and optimizer development.
• Independently lead small research projects while collaborating with team members on larger initiatives.
• Design, run, and analyze scientific experiments to advance understanding of large language models.
• Optimize and scale training infrastructure to improve efficiency and reliability.
• Develop and improve developer tooling to enhance team productivity.
• Contribute across the stack, from low-level optimizations to high-level model design.

Requirements

• Advanced degree (MS or PhD) in Computer Science, Machine Learning, or a related field.
• Strong software engineering skills with proven experience building complex systems.
• Expertise in Python and experience with deep learning frameworks (PyTorch preferred).
• Familiarity with large-scale machine learning, particularly for language models.
• Ability to balance research goals with practical engineering constraints.
• Strong problem-solving skills and a results-oriented mindset.
• Excellent communication skills and ability to work collaboratively.
• Care about the societal impacts of your work.

Preferred Experience

• Work on high-performance, large-scale ML systems.
• Familiarity with GPUs, Kubernetes, and OS internals.
• Experience with language modeling using transformer architectures.
• Knowledge of reinforcement learning techniques.
• Background in large-scale ETL processes.

Sample Projects

• Optimizing the throughput of novel attention mechanisms.
• Comparing compute efficiency of different Transformer variants.
• Preparing large-scale datasets for efficient model consumption.
• Scaling distributed training jobs to thousands of GPUs.
• Designing fault tolerance strategies for training infrastructure.
• Creating interactive visualizations of model internals (e.g., attention patterns).

Compensation

• Annual Salary: £250,000 - £270,000 GBP.
• Total compensation package for full-time employees includes equity, benefits, and may include incentive compensation.

Logistics

• Location: London, UK.
• Location-based hybrid policy: staff are expected to be in one of our offices at least 25% of the time (hybrid).
• Education requirements: at least a Bachelor's degree in a related field or equivalent experience.
• Visa sponsorship: Anthropic does sponsor visas and retains an immigration lawyer, though sponsorship may not be possible for every role/candidate.

About Anthropic / How We Work

Anthropic values large-scale, collaborative AI research focused on safety, interpretability, and alignment. Teams work on cohesive, high-impact research efforts and host frequent research discussions. We encourage applications from diverse backgrounds and strongly encourage candidates to apply even if they do not meet every listed qualification.

How to Apply

Follow the application process on the job posting. Applicants are asked to provide basic contact information, resume or LinkedIn, and answers to several team and logistics questions. Anthropic provides guidance on candidate AI usage during the application process.