# Research Scientist / Engineer - Controllability, Personalization & Productization

**Company:** [Luma AI](https://hotfix.jobs/companies/lumalabs-ai)
**Location:** Palo Alto, CA, Seattle, WA
**Role:** AI Research
**Salary:** $188k – $395k/yr
**Skills:** PyTorch, Diffusion Models, Transformers, Sft, Rl, Peft, Distillation, Adapters, Ray, Kubernetes
**Posted:** 2025-07-29

> Develops controllability, personalization, and productization for video foundation models using fine-tuning, RL, and evaluation techniques. Requires deep expertise in visual generative models, PyTorch, and product-focused research for creative workflows.

## Job Description

## What You’ll Do

- Work as a fullstack researcher across modeling, data, systems, and evaluation to translate foundational capabilities into personalized and high-fidelity tools for creative production.
- **Controllability and Features**: Use SFT, RL, distillation, and adapter-based methods to give models precise control and creative capabilities for high-fidelity workflows.
- **Personalization**: Use context management, PEFT, and preference learning to embed domain expertise and long-horizon memory; ground data engine in real-world workflows.
- **End-User Quality**: Define success metrics, build user-aligned evaluations, and iterate on model/data/evals loop for fidelity and reliability in specific verticals.
- **Cross-functional Collaboration**: Partner with Product and Design to turn creative intent and user feedback into specs and shippable model behaviors.

## Who You Are

- Strong foundation in machine learning with deep experience in **visual generative models** (diffusion/transformers or related architectures).
- Deep understanding of at least one: fine-tuning, personalization, domain adaptation, data curation, targeted distillation, interpretability, or human-feedback-driven refinement.
- Product-obsessed researcher/engineer focused on end users and partners.
- Hands-on experience with **PyTorch** and large model training.

**Bonus Points**
- Contributions to state-of-the-art models in image/video generation.
- Experience collaborating with creative partners (VFX, animation, film, design tools).
- Track record building workflows/tools that improve iteration speed and evaluation rigor.
- Familiarity with large-scale training infrastructure and distributed systems (**Ray**, **Slurm**, **Kubernetes**).

## Compensation

Base pay range: **$187,500 – $395,000** per year.

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