Compute Software Engineer, AI and Advanced Computing Center

Software Engineer

Schmidt Sciences is a nonprofit organization founded in 2024 by Eric and Wendy Schmidt that works to accelerate scientific knowledge and breakthroughs with the most promising, advanced tools to support a thriving planet. The organization prioritizes research in areas poised for impact including AI and advanced computing, astrophysics, biosciences, climate, and space—as well as supporting researchers in a variety of disciplines through its science systems program.

The AI Institute at Schmidt Sciences is a grantmaking and research group that views AI as a transformative force for scientific discovery and societal progress. Over the next decade, we aim to support key researchers who are working to make AI systems competent, trustworthy, reliable, and able to effectively partner with human scientists on the next generation of discovery. We will also make distinctive investments in beneficial AI areas where philanthropy has a unique advantage. By supporting enabling infrastructure, foundational research, and targeted programs in science disciplines, the AI and Advanced Computing Institute will create the conditions for AI-enabled discovery to achieve its promise.

The AI Institute currently has three focus areas:

• AI for Science – using AI to improve how scientists generate hypotheses, conduct experiments, analyze data, and produce new knowledge – and do this in a way that specifically accelerates the discovery process. Exploratory programs include post-transistor hardware for AI and AI for scientific simulation.
• Science of AI – understanding and controlling AI systems to mitigate and manage potential risks from advanced AI. Improve AI reliability and performance in areas of limited commercial interest. Existing programs include AI2050 and Science of Trustworthy AI. Exploratory programs include AI interpretability and evolution of multi-agent communication.
• Beneficial AI – providing scientific foundations and datasets for understanding the larger human impacts of AI. This includes selected high-impact grantmaking, such as our programs to use AI to accelerate humanities research (Humanities and AI Virtual Institute), and to quantify the impact of AI on the labor market (View email address on click.appcast.io).

Schmidt Sciences has multiple programs related to the AI Institute, such as the Virtual Institute for Scientific Software (VISS), which seeks to accelerate the pace of scientific discovery through the support and development of high-quality, community-oriented scientific software. These philanthropic efforts support experienced engineers who are tasked with building open-source infrastructure and applications for multi-disciplinary, high-performance, at-scale scientific discovery.

The Role

Reporting to the Compute Program Scientist in the AI Institute, the Software Engineer will provide technical leadership and apply application development expertise across AI Institute and Schmidt Sciences multidisciplinary efforts. The initial set of projects will focus on cutting-edge developments in AI. A successful candidate should have a work portfolio that reflects specific contributions to production-grade software products. Success for this role is defined by the quality of software components produced, and the impact of the programming contributions on the overall success of each project. This role requires up to 30% domestic travel.

Example activities for this role:

• Implementing recently published algorithms or novel data-processing techniques within an existing application.
• Troubleshooting and evaluating complex software packages for numerical accuracy, finding regressions after refactoring, or adopting existing software libraries for new hardware platforms.
• Instrumenting research software for performance optimization and analysis, especially for large-scale, distributed workflows.
• Using a combination of open source packages and proprietary APIs to construct scalable AI services using hybrid on-prem and cloud-based resources.

Key Responsibilities for this role include the following:

• Select the optimal tools and algorithms to implement solution components that enable new scientific capabilities or mitigate gaps and address test findings.
• Own cognizant responsibility for the software architecture of multiple codebases using different programming languages.
• Analyze and assess model resource requirements, review operational plans (e.g., virtualization, cloud, etc.), and evaluate other technical opportunities.

• Assist existing programs by providing software development expertise and mentorship, while working closely and collaboratively with multiple subject matter expert teams.
• Work with other members of the Schmidt Sciences technical team to implement new software features and capabilities in support of diverse research activities.
• Maintain awareness and track industry trends for tools and frameworks that address data management, analysis, visualization, monitoring, and security of research applications.
• Participate in relevant industry events and forums, representing Schmidt Sciences' presence on AI and advanced computing issues.

Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• A Bachelor's degree from an accredited institution, with a focus on Computer Science, Mathematics, or a related field.
• 5+ years of professional experience developing high-quality software applications.
• Proficiency with software engineering tools and best practices.
• Proficiency with modern machine-learning software frameworks, such as JAX, PyTorch, TensorFlow, etc.
• Exposure to CPU/GPU/TPU acceleration techniques with popular SDKs (e.g., OpenCL, CUDA, ROCm, Cloud TPU).
• Prior work with containerized Linux workloads, including GPU-accelerated configurations.
• Basic knowledge of computer networking and distributed computing.
• Ability to design, train, deploy, or maintain state-of-the-art AI models at a production scale.
• Experience producing technical writing for expert and general audiences.
• Good track record of collaborative impact in high-intensity, team-based environments.
• Sense of controlled urgency in driving work to completion.
• The highest integrity and ability to maintain confidentiality.
• Be able to travel within the U.S. and internationally on a regular basis as needed.

Preferred Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Expert-level experience and industry credentials in the software and hardware frameworks that drive modern AI, and competence in at least one, and preferably multiple, fields of science impacted by modern AI.
• Exposure to multiple steps in the software design lifecycle, such as evaluating the scalability, data requirements, compute needs, and selecting infrastructure components.
• Expertise in relevant technical focus areas, e.g., AI model optimization and hardware accelerated frameworks.
• Ability to work with and effectively translate technical concepts across multiple scientific disciplines.
• Ability to critically evaluate scientific and technical publications and emerging methods in related disciplines.
• Experience working with science-focused institutions such as philanthropic organizations or academic/government research institutions.

$150,000 - $170,000 a year

This is an exempt position.

Schmidt Sciences, is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer that proudly pursues and hires a diverse workforce. We do not make hiring or employment decisions on the basis of race, color, religion or religious belief, ethnic or national origin, nationality, sex, gender, gender-identity, sexual orientation, disability, age, military or veteran status, or any other basis protected by applicable local, state, or federal laws or prohibited by Company policy. We strive for a healthy and safe workplace and strictly prohibit harassment of any kind.