Research Engineer

University of Rochester: Office of the Provost: Academic Center: LLE-Laboratory for Laser Energ

Salary Range or Pay Grade

$90,000-$175,000 Annually

Description

Position Summary:

The Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE) is seeking a highly skilled and collaborative Lead AI/ML Engineer to architect, implement, and scale applied machine learning solutions that support LLE’s mission in inertial confinement fusion (ICF), high-energy-density physics, laser diagnostics, and materials science. This role focuses on engineering leadership, ML infrastructure development, and hands-on deployment of advanced models including large language models (LLMs), agentic AI systems, and scientific inference pipelines.

The successful candidate will work closely with a Principal Investigator (PI) leading ML research efforts, as well as with physicists, chemists, and experimental teams, to operationalize AI/ML models for real-time control, simulation analysis, materials discovery, and data visualization. This is a high-impact technical role for an experienced engineer with a passion for interdisciplinary science.

Key Responsibilities:

• Design and deploy ML systems to support scientific workflows, including model training, serving, and lifecycle management.

• Develop and integrate LLMs, agentic AI tools, and decision-support systems to augment scientific reasoning and diagnostics.

• Collaborate with research staff to productionize ML models for:

• Laser and plasma system modeling

• Experimental diagnostics and control

• Materials property prediction and DFT acceleration

• Define and maintain infrastructure for AI workloads:

• GPU/accelerator provisioning

• Containerized deployment (Docker, Kubernetes/OpenShift)

• Model versioning and reproducibility (e.g., MLflow, DVC)

• Lead internal initiatives for AI/ML training, best practices, and developer support across scientific groups.

• Contribute to software engineering decisions, including specification of new hardware, resource planning, and technical roadmapping.

• Collaborate with academic and industrial partners to evaluate and adopt emerging AI technologies.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications:

• Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, AI/ML, or a related technical field (PhD optional).

• Experience in machine learning engineering, with strong emphasis on:

• Deep learning frameworks (e.g., PyTorch, TensorFlow, JAX)

• ML infrastructure and model deployment

• Large language models (e.g., OpenAI, Hugging Face, open-source stacks like LLaMA or Mistral)

• Experience building scalable ML pipelines and integrating models with production systems.

• Proficiency in modern software engineering practices: version control, CI/CD, containerization, and API development.

• Strong communication and organizational skills, with the ability to support scientists in diverse domains.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience deploying AI systems in a research, scientific computing, or HPC environment.

• Familiarity with agent-based reasoning systems and tools like LangChain, OpenAgents, or custom tool-use frameworks.

• Understanding of physical science applications such as ICF, materials design, or experimental diagnostics.

• Experience contributing to cross-functional teams spanning research and engineering.

• Interest in mentoring junior engineers or interns, and developing internal training tools or documentation.

Application Instructions

The applicant should submit:

• a cover letter;

• a curriculum vitae and a list of publications;

• at least two letters of recommendation

SALARY RANGE: $90,000 to $175,000

The referenced pay range represents the minimum and maximum compensation for this job. Individual annual salaries/hourly rates are set within the job's compensation range, and determined by considering factors including, but not limited to, market data, education, experience, qualifications, expertise of the individual, and internal equity considerations.

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

EOE, including disability/protected veterans

The University of Rochester is committed to fostering, cultivating, and preserving an inclusive and welcoming culture to advance the University’s Mission to Learn, Discover, Heal, Create – and Make the World Ever Better. In support of our values and those of our society, the University is committed to not discriminating on the basis of age, color, disability, ethnicity, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, military/veteran status, national origin, race, religion/creed, sex, sexual orientation, citizenship status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law (Protected Classes). This commitment extends to non-discrimination in the administration of our policies, admissions, employment, access, and recruitment of candidates for all persons consistent with our values and based on applicable law.