# Research Scientist

**Company:** [Tessera Labs](https://hotfix.jobs/companies/tessera-labs)
**Location:** San Jose, CA
**Role:** AI Research
**Salary:** $200k – $300k/yr
**Skills:** Machine Learning, Reinforcement Learning, LLMs, Post-Training, Agent Memory, Long-Context Reasoning, Knowledge Representation, Ontologies, Knowledge Graphs, Evaluation Methodology, Multi-Agent Systems, Python, Open-Weight Models, Code Generation
**Posted:** 2026-08-21

> Research Scientist defining and executing research on reliable long-horizon agents in enterprise environments. The role focuses on post-training and reinforcement learning, agent memory, evaluation, verification, and structured representations, combining hands-on experimentation with product delivery and publication.

## Job Description

## Responsibilities
- Set and pursue a research agenda for reliable, long-horizon agentic behavior in enterprise environments.
- Invent and validate post-training methods for transformation work, including reward design, reinforcement learning, long-horizon planning, tool use, curriculum, and data strategy.
- Design memory architectures for multi-step, multi-day agent runs, including persistence, retrieval, revision, and model training.
- Develop evaluation methodologies that predict customer-observed correctness and identify failures in automated proxies.
- Study multi-agent failure modes, including error compounding, partial observability, delegation, and verification.
- Research verification methods for changes where automated tests do not provide coverage.
- Develop enterprise representations such as ontologies and knowledge graphs for reliable agent reasoning.
- Investigate post-training compute and data scaling across affordable open-weight models.
- Turn research findings into shipped product capabilities with Research Engineering and product teams.
- Publish papers, technical reports, and open-source artifacts; represent the company’s research externally.
- Review experiment designs and mentor engineers moving into research.

## Requirements
- MS or PhD in computer science, machine learning, statistics, mathematics, physics, or a related field, or comparable research experience.
- Track record of original machine learning research through publications, influential open-source work, or impactful lab results.
- Deep expertise in at least one of post-training and reinforcement learning for LLMs, agent memory and long-context reasoning, knowledge representation and structured reasoning, or evaluation methodology.
- Hands-on ability to write code, run experiments, and analyze logs.
- Exceptional research judgment, rigor, urgency, and technical communication.

## Nice-to-haves
- Experience owning a research direction at a frontier lab or strong academic group.
- Published work on agents, tool use, reinforcement learning for LLMs, code generation or repair, reasoning, or evaluation.
- Experience with verifiable-reward reinforcement learning or incomplete-verification reward-model failure modes.
- Experience with knowledge representation, ontologies, or neurosymbolic methods.

## Compensation
- Annual salary: $200,000–$300,000.

## Similar jobs

- [Research Scientist, APEX Benchmarks](https://hotfix.jobs/jobs/77bc636d-de61-47a6-9ca0-db586f4d2d22) - Mercor - San Francisco, CA - $200k – $400k/yr
- [People Research Scientist](https://hotfix.jobs/jobs/9e65a017-a0c0-4582-a774-59ce6f0c1e69) - OpenAI - San Francisco, CA - $198k – $220k/yr
- [Software Engineer (Gen AI)](https://hotfix.jobs/jobs/7af58525-5b44-47cc-a964-4a0eee5a3506) - Earnin - Mountain View, CA - $181k – $222k/yr
- [Machine Learning Research Scientist, Evaluations](https://hotfix.jobs/jobs/72d88855-3e74-43ec-82cd-9eaa9e95df69) - Scale AI - San Francisco, CA - $181k – $226k/yr
- [Machine Learning Research Scientist / Research Engineer, Post-Training](https://hotfix.jobs/jobs/aec3f24b-dccd-4095-b46f-79ea3c89be63) - Scale AI - San Francisco, CA - $181k – $226k/yr

**Apply:** https://hotfix.jobs/jobs/f5ff3391-4477-4eb8-b26f-78c72fc10328
**Canonical:** https://hotfix.jobs/jobs/f5ff3391-4477-4eb8-b26f-78c72fc10328