Job description
Job Summary
The Alignment of Dynamical Cognitive Systems program seeks a Research Engineer to develop novel AI platforms addressing critical alignment challenges and practical LLM agents. Combining platform development with alignment research, this role requires expertise in agent-based systems and multi-objective optimization. You'll co-design and develop systems supporting safety research, internal tools, and community resources -- creating environments to shape multi-agent dynamics and implement cooperative AI architectures with robust alignment properties. You'll also build technical infrastructure to investigate experimental AI alignment and control approaches while collaborating with researchers to bring theoretical approaches into practice. This position offers the chance to develop foundational technologies essential for promoting safety as AI capabilities rapidly advance.
About CARMA
The Center for AI Risk Management & Alignment (CARMA) works to help society navigate the complex and potentially catastrophic risks arising from increasingly powerful AI systems. Our mission is specifically to lower the risks to humanity and the biosphere from transformative AI.
We focus on grounding AI risk management in rigorous analysis, developing policy frameworks that squarely address AGI, advancing technical safety approaches, and fostering global perspectives on durable safety. Through these complementary approaches, CARMA aims to provide critical support to society for managing the outsized risks from advanced AI before they materialize.
CARMA is a fiscally-sponsored project of Social & Environmental Entrepreneurs, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit public benefit corporation.
Responsibilities
Research and develop AI systems and platforms variously for: safety research, internal tooling, and safety community support
Design and implement architectures for agent execution environments and interaction platforms
Develop optimization algorithms for multi-objective and cooperative AI systems
Create mechanisms for conflict resolution and preference aggregation in multi-agent settings
Implement testing frameworks and example environments to validate theoretical approaches
Build middleware components that facilitate secure and efficient agent communication
Architect and develop reusable software components for AI alignment research
Document system architectures, APIs, and implementation details
Collaborate on technical publications and research presentations
Contribute to both practical implementations and theoretical research in AI alignment
Support the evaluation and refinement of research prototypes
Required Qualifications
MS or PhD in Computer Science, AI, or related field (or equivalent experience)
Experience with one or preferrably more of: dynamic plan recognition, activity recognition, dynamic multicriteria decision making, multi-agent systems, or AI builder platforms
Strong programming skills in both Python and Java
Demonstrated ability to relatively independently drive technical projects from concept to implementation
Familiarity with techniques for AI alignment, control, safety, or related research areas
Experience developing middleware, frameworks, or platforms
Breadth of experience in machine learning and AI systems architecture
Literate in semi-formal semantics
Excellent communication skills and technical documentation abilities
Preferred Qualifications
Publications (formal or informal) in AI alignment, AI safety, or related research areas
Familiarity with varied multi-objective optimization techniques
Experience with contextual pragmatics and/or constraint satisfaction problems
Developed novel multi-agent architectures
Experience with LLMs and integrating them into agent architectures
Experience with distributed systems and platform development
Knowledge of security and privacy methods for multi-party computation
Understanding of basic game theory and/or social choice theory concepts
Familiarity with metacognitive systems, metareasoning, or dynamical cognitive approaches
Demonstrable open source project contributions
Experience building systems that actively manage trade-offs between competing objectives
CARMA/SEE is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We will not discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, sex, age, religion, gender reassignment, partnership status, maternity, or sexual orientation. We are, by policy and action, an inclusive organization and actively promote equal opportunities for all humans with the right mix of talent, knowledge, skills, attitude, and potential, so hiring is only based on individual merit for the job. Our organization operates through a fiscal sponsor whose infrastructure only supports persons authorized to work in the U.S. as employees. Candidates outside the U.S. would be engaged as independent contractors with project-focused responsibilities. Note that we are unable to sponsor visas at this time.
Originally posted on Himalayas
Who can apply
Eligible countries: United States. Accepted UTC offsets: UTC-10, UTC-9, UTC-8, UTC-7, UTC-6, UTC-5, UTC+14. Review the full description for employer-specific work authorization, residency and schedule requirements.