Research Scientist / Research Engineer, Pre-Training

Details

Anthropic is seeking a Research Engineer to join the Pretraining team to develop the next generation of large language models. You will work at the intersection of research and engineering to build safe, steerable, and trustworthy AI systems, contributing across the stack from low-level optimizations to high-level model design.

Responsibilities

• Conduct research and implement solutions in areas such as model architecture, algorithms, data processing, and optimizer development
• Independently lead small research projects and collaborate 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 dev tooling to enhance team productivity
• Contribute across the entire 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 (the listing also notes the organization requires at least a Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience)
• Strong software engineering skills with a proven track record of 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, such as attention patterns

Logistics

• Location: London, UK
• Location-based hybrid policy: staff are expected to be in one of the offices at least 25% of the time
• Visa sponsorship: Anthropic states they sponsor visas and will make reasonable efforts for successful candidates
• Education: at minimum the company requires a Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience; core qualifications list MS or PhD as advanced degree expectation

Benefits

• Competitive compensation (see salary range below)
• Optional equity donation matching
• Generous vacation and parental leave
• Flexible working hours and a collaborative office environment

About Anthropic

Anthropic's mission is to create reliable, interpretable, and steerable AI systems and to ensure transformative AI systems are aligned with human interests. The organization emphasizes large-scale, high-impact AI research, collaboration, communication skills, and attention to societal and ethical implications of AI work.