AI Engineer (Research & Development)

Who We Are:

At Bandwidth, your music matters when you are part of the BAND. We celebrate differences and encourage BANDmates to be their authentic selves. #jointheband

What We Are Looking For:

Bandwidth's Research & Development (R&D) team is at the forefront of exploring and harnessing transformative technologies to define the next generation of communication experiences. We operate as a small, agile, and T-shaped group, diving deep into emerging areas like Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. We're seeking a highly motivated AI/ML Engineer to join this dynamic team in our Raleigh, NC headquarters.

You thrive in a collaborative, fast-paced environment where you can rapidly iterate on ideas and prototypes. You have a startup mentality, comfortable with ambiguity and driven by a relentless curiosity to explore, build, and learn. If you're passionate about applying cutting-edge AI/ML, especially Large Language Models (LLMs), to solve real-world problems and shape future products, this is the role for you. This position requires working full-time from our Raleigh office.

What You'll Do:

• Dive deep into the latest AI/ML research, particularly in the LLM space, identifying opportunities relevant to Bandwidth's domain.
• Design, build, and test proof-of-concepts and prototypes for novel AI-powered features and services.
• Implement and integrate AI/ML models, including those based on LLMs, into potential future Bandwidth offerings.
• Collaborate intensely within a small, cross-functional R&D team, sharing knowledge and contributing to a T-shaped skill set.
• Experiment with various AI techniques, including advanced prompting strategies, Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), and potentially agentic systems.
• Stay constantly updated on the rapidly evolving AI landscape, evaluating new tools, models, and methodologies.
• Leverage LLM-powered IDEs and development tools (like GitHub Copilot, Cursor, etc.) to accelerate the innovation cycle.
• Clearly articulate and present research findings, experiment results, and prototype demonstrations to technical and non-technical stakeholders.

What You Need:

• Bachelors degree in Computer Science, AI, ML, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience.
• Demonstrable expertise and hands-on experience in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, with deep knowledge in at least one specific AI domain (e.g., NLP, LLMs, Speech Recognition).
• Proven experience (typically 3+ years) designing, building, and evaluating AI/ML models and systems.
• Strong programming skills, particularly in Python and familiarity with common ML libraries/frameworks (e.g., PyTorch, TensorFlow, scikit-learn, Hugging Face).
• Solid understanding and practical experience with Large Language Models (LLMs) and associated concepts, including Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) and various prompting techniques (e.g., Zero-shot, Few-shot, Chain of Thought).
• Experience implementing services or applications built on top of foundational LLMs (via APIs or open-source models).
• Proven ability to thrive in a small, highly collaborative team environment with an urgent, results-oriented culture. Significant experience in startups or similar fast-moving, resource-constrained organizations is highly desirable.
• A relentless curiosity and passion for exploring new technologies and techniques in the AI/ML space.
• Experience using LLM-powered IDEs or coding assistants.
• Excellent problem-solving skills and the ability to navigate ambiguity.
• Must be able to work full-time from the Bandwidth headquarters in Raleigh, NC.

Bonus Points:

• Masters degree or PhD in Computer Science, AI, ML, or a related field.
• Experience with LLM training, fine-tuning (e.g., LoRa), and/or developing custom evaluation benchmarks.
• Familiarity with advanced AI architectures and concepts such as agentic systems (e.g., ReAct), multi-modal models, Mixture of Experts (MoE), or LLM tooling/external capabilities.
• Experience with MLOps practices and cloud-based ML platforms (e.g., AWS SageMaker, Azure ML, Google AI Platform).
• Familiarity with AI Developer and Agentic Frameworks (e.g., OpenAI, LangChain, CrewAI, Autogen)
• Experience contributing to AI/ML research, publications, or open-source projects.

The Whole Person Promise:

At Bandwidth, were pretty proud of our corporate culture, which is rooted in our Whole Person Promise. We promise all employees that they can have meaningful work AND a full life, and we provide a work environment geared toward enriching your body, mind, and spirit. How do we do that? Well

• 100% company-paid Medical, Vision, & Dental coverage for you and your family with low deductibles and low out-of-pocket expenses.
• All new hires receive four weeks of PTO.
• PTO Embargo. When you take time off (of any kind!) youre embargoed from working. Bandmates and managers are not allowed to interrupt your PTO not even with email.
• Additional PTO can be earned throughout the year through volunteer hours and Bandwidth challenges.
• Mahalo moments program grants additional time off for lifes most important moments like graduations, buying a first home, getting married, wedding anniversaries (every five years), and the birth of a grandchild.
• 90-Minute Workout Lunches and unlimited meetings with our very own nutritionist.