Senior Level ML Research Engineer Jobs
Senior level ml research engineer jobs place experienced researchers in charge of defining model architecture, owning research roadmaps, and leading the teams that move experiments into production. Hiring is concentrated across Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals, Medical Devices, and Electronics & Hardware, with 30% of openings offering remote or hybrid work, and employers like Rad AI, Apple, and Jane Street hiring at this level now.
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About Rad AI
At Rad AI, we’re on a mission to transform healthcare with artificial intelligence. Founded by a radiologist, our AI-driven solutions are revolutionizing radiology—saving time, reducing burnout, and improving patient care. With one of the largest proprietary radiology report datasets in the world, our AI has helped uncover hundreds of new cancer diagnoses and reduced error rates in tens of millions of radiology reports by nearly 50%. Rad AI has secured over $140M in funding, including a recently oversubscribed Series C ($68M round) led by Transformation Capital, bringing our valuation to $528M. Our investors include Khosla Ventures, World Innovation Lab, Gradient Ventures, Cone Health Ventures, and others—all backing our mission to empower physicians with cutting-edge AI. Our latest advancements in generative AI are used by thousands of radiologists daily, supporting more than one-third of radiology groups and healthcare systems and nearly 50% of all medical imaging in the U.S. at partners including Cone Health, Jefferson Einstein Health, Geisinger, Guthrie Healthcare System, and Henry Ford Health. Recognized as one of the most promising healthcare AI companies by CB Insights and AuntMinnie, and ranked by Deloitte as the 19th fastest-growing company in North America, we are building AI-powered solutions that make a real impact. Most recently, Rad AI was named to CNBC’s Disruptor 50 list, highlighting the innovation and momentum behind our mission. If you’re ready to shape the future of healthcare, we’d love to have you on our team!
Why Join Us?
We’re looking for a Machine Learning Research Manager to lead a dedicated, high-impact team of applied and clinical researchers working at the intersection of clinical AI, language modeling, and radiology. This is a player-coach role for someone who loves developing people, setting technical direction, and staying hands on and being close to the work. You’ll help shape how our research organization scales while partnering deeply with clinicians, engineers, and product leaders to bring high-value ideas into production.
What You’ll Be Doing
- Directly manage and mentor a small team of applied and clinical researchers, helping them grow in scope, judgment, execution, and communication
- Drive research productivity by clarifying priorities, unblocking work, and creating a high-trust, high-accountability team environment
- Stay close to the technical work as a player-coach by guiding problem framing, experimental design, evaluation strategy, and tradeoff decisions across multiple research efforts
- Partner closely with radiologists, clinical experts, engineers, and product leaders to identify the highest-leverage research opportunities and translate them into production-scale systems
- Help the team build and evaluate advanced NLP and reasoning systems that work with clinical text, diagnostic criteria, reporting workflows, and other healthcare data
- Create strong cross-functional working rhythms with engineering, product, and clinical partners so research outputs are practical, trustworthy, and deployable
- Raise the bar on research quality, reproducibility, and communication across the team
- Stay current on relevant machine learning advances and help the team thoughtfully integrate new methods when they materially improve customer and clinical outcomes
Who We’re Looking For
- MS or PhD in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Computational Linguistics, Biomedical Informatics, or a related quantitative field, or equivalent practical experience
- 6+ years of applied ML research experience, with a track record of taking work from idea to production impact
- Prior people management experience, or clear evidence of operating as a de facto team lead for multi-person research efforts, with strong coaching and prioritization skills
- Strong background in NLP and modern deep learning, especially transformer-based systems and large language models
- Experience applying ML to hard real-world problems where ambiguity, data quality, and operational constraints matter
- Strong hands-on experience with modern ML tooling such as PyTorch and common model development workflows
- Demonstrated ability to collaborate closely with domain experts and cross-functional stakeholders, especially in environments where trust, iteration speed, and communication quality matter
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to guide senior researchers while also aligning non-technical partners around research direction and tradeoffs
Nice to Have
- Experience working in healthcare, clinical AI, biomedical ML, or other regulated, privacy-sensitive environments
- Experience with radiology, clinical documentation, medical terminology, or clinician-facing workflows
- Experience deploying LLM or NLP systems in production settings
- Experience contributing to research culture through mentorship, technical standards, or organizational leadership
- Familiarity with cloud-based ML workflows and modern research infrastructure
- Preferably eager to collaborate and work in our new San Francisco office and shape the culture and tone of that space
Join our world-class team as we build and deploy AI solutions that empower physicians and transform patient care—making a meaningful impact on millions of lives. Driven by our mission, we prioritize transparency, inclusion, and close collaboration, bringing together exceptional people to revolutionize healthcare. If you're passionate about driving innovation and delivering impactful healthcare solutions, we'd love to hear from you!
Location Details:
For roles listed as San Francisco - Onsite: This role will be based in our San Francisco office and we expect employees to work onsite four days per week. The remaining time may be worked remotely or onsite, depending on team and business needs. For roles listed as United States - Remote: This role is open to candidates located anywhere in the United States. For roles listed as San Francisco - Onsite + United States - Remote: We will prioritize candidates who can work onsite four days per week in San Francisco, while also considering remote candidates located anywhere in the United States.
For US-Based Full-Time Roles, Rad AI offers a variety of benefits, including:
- Comprehensive Medical, Dental, Vision & Life insurance
- HSA (with employer match), FSA, & DCFSA
- 401(k)
- 11 Paid Company Holidays
- Flexible PTO policy
- Annual company-wide offsite
- Periodic team offsites
- Annual equipment stipend
- For roles based outside the US, your recruiter can share more details
At Rad AI, we value diversity and provide equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. We will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance.
Please be vigilant regarding job scams. We advise all candidates to apply directly through our official careers page. Our recruiters will use email addresses with the domain @radai.com or no-reply@ashbyhq.com.
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Top Industries Hiring
- Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals
- Medical Devices
- Electronics & Hardware
- Investment & Asset Management
- Fintech
Senior Level ML Research Engineer Jobs: Frequently Asked Questions
How do I get a senior level ml research engineer job?
Employers hiring at the senior level expect a portfolio of shipped research, not just publications. Candidates who stand out have led projects from problem framing through deployment, can articulate tradeoffs in model design to non-technical stakeholders, and have mentored junior researchers. Demonstrating ownership of outcomes, not just technical execution, is what separates strong applicants from the field at this stage.
Which companies hire senior level ml research engineers?
Companies hiring senior level ml research engineers right now include Rad AI, Apple, and Jane Street, based on current listings on Migrate Mate as of September 2026. Hiring at this level covers large technology organizations running dedicated research labs, growth-stage AI companies building foundational model infrastructure, and enterprise firms embedding ML research into core product development.
Are there remote senior level ml research engineer jobs?
Yes, though availability varies by employer and research focus. About 30% of senior level ml research engineer openings are remote or hybrid as of September 2026, reflecting the role's emphasis on deep individual work alongside collaborative research cycles. Organizations with distributed research teams tend to offer the most flexibility at this level.
What makes a ml research engineer role senior level?
A senior ml research engineer role is defined by scope and ownership rather than task execution. Senior engineers set the research direction for a problem area, evaluate competing approaches, and are accountable for the quality and reliability of what ships. They are expected to mentor junior and mid-level researchers, influence team-wide technical decisions, and communicate research outcomes to engineering and product leadership.
Which industries hire the most senior level ml research engineers?
Senior level ml research engineer roles concentrate in Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals, Medical Devices, and Electronics & Hardware, based on current listings on Migrate Mate as of September 2026. These sectors drive demand because they are investing heavily in proprietary model development, have the data infrastructure to support applied research at scale, and require researchers who can operate independently within complex technical organizations.