ML Research Engineer - Inference & GPU Kernels - AI Trainer

AfterQuery is a research lab investigating the boundaries of artificial intelligence through novel datasets and experimentation. We believe great AI comes from exceptional, human-generated data. We are backed by top investors, including Y Combinator and Box Group, and support all leading AI labs. We are hiring ML Research Engineers with inference and GPU kernel expertise to help train and evaluate how AI models reason about low-level machine learning systems work. This is expert evaluation and problem design work, not production engineering. What you will do: Design realistic technical scenarios and problem sets covering ML inference and GPU kernel engineering. Author expert-level reference solutions and grading rubrics. Evaluate AI-generated outputs for correctness, depth, and domain judgment. Required qualifications: 6 to 10 years of hands-on experience in machine learning or AI systems engineering. PhD or Doctorate, or a Master's degree with a strong research record. Currently or recently active in the field, hands-on rather than purely academic-adjacent. Strong written communication, since you will author technical explanations and structured feedback. Comfortable with independent, asynchronous, remote work. Preferred qualifications: Research publication record, open-source contributions, or recognized work product. Experience evaluating, reviewing, or grading technical work such as peer review or code review. Direct experience with SGLang, vLLM, Mamba or Mamba2, TensorRT-LLM, or GPU kernel development. Why apply: Work directly on frontier AI research problems in your area of deep expertise. Fully remote, flexible, and asynchronous, so it fits around existing work. Competitive hourly compensation based on experience. Job type: Contract Pay: $120.00 - $140.00 per hour Work location: Remote Pay: $120.00 - $140.00 per hour Work Location: Remote