AI Research Engineer - Cactus (YC S25) : Job Details

Join to apply for the AI Research Engineer role at Cactus (YC S25).

This range is provided by Cactus (YC S25). Your actual pay will be based on your skills and experience — talk with your recruiter to learn more.

$120,000.00/yr - $180,000.00/yr

Cactus is a cross-platform open-source framework for running AI models locally on smartphones. Cactus ships Kernels & AI engine for running AI locally on mobile devices; CUDA for phones. App developers can now deploy AI models locally in their mobile apps. Cactus completed a highly oversubscribed fundraising round and now actively scaling the engineering team.

AI Research Engineers read papers and replicate models/techniques in Cactus. They also build and maintain Python tools for porting JAX/PyTorch models to Cactus graphs. They synergize strong mathematical foundations, intimate understanding of machine learning frameworks and experience with foundation models. AI research engineers also work with model companies to get them started with Cactus. This role requires ownership and high sense of agency.

• Masters/PhD degree in CS/Maths/AI/Physics, or relevant experience
• Strong background in Python, PyTorch/JAX internals
• Experience with deep learning and SOTA LLM/VLM/TTS
• Experience with C++ and ml inference is preferred
• Ability to work collaboratively in a team environment
• A sense of urgency and interest in startups

• $120,000 - $180,000 base salary
• Generous equity based on experience
• Health insurance, gym membership, etc.
• Work at a YC startup experience

Cactus Repo:

• Entry level

• Full-time

• Engineering and Information Technology

• Research Services

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