Principal Research Scientist, Reinforcement Learning
- Pay
- $250,000 – $300,000 per year
- Location
- East Palo Alto, CA · On-site
- Level
- Director
- Experience
- 7+ years
- Education
- Master's degree
- Listed
- 30 days ago
Skills & highlights for this role
- RLHF
- DPO
- PPO
- reward modeling
- TRL
- multi-turn tool-using agents
Also useful
- veRL
- OpenRLHF
- offline RL
- distributed training on GPU clusters
What You'll Do
- Design simulation environments and digital twins for enterprise workflows
- Post-train LLM agents using RLHF, DPO, GRPO, PPO, and emerging methods
- Build pipelines that convert human-labeled traces and verifiable signals into training data
- Architect multi-turn, tool-using agents with closed learning loops
- Design reward functions and verifiers that resist reward hacking and reflect real task outcomes
- Set the technical bar across the team — architecture, code review, engineering standards
- Mentor researchers and engineers; drive technical direction through influence
- Translate research into production; contribute to publications
Experience & Education
- 7+ years in ML/AI research or engineering; 3+ years at senior/staff level
- MS or PhD in Computer Science, Machine Learning, or related field (or equivalent)
- 5+ years hands-on RL — environment design, reward engineering, policy optimization — with at least one production deployment
LLM Post-Training
- 3+ years fine-tuning LLMs with hands-on RL post-training (RLHF, DPO, GRPO, PPO)
- Expert-level implementation of RLHF pipelines, reward modeling (Bradley-Terry), DPO, and KTO
- Working knowledge of modern post-training and rollout-serving libraries (TRL, veRL, OpenRLHF, SkyRL)
Agent Engineering
- Experience building LLM-based agents: tool use, multi-turn reasoning, trajectory evaluation
- Strong Python and software engineering skills — comfortable building production pipelines, not just notebooks
RL Foundations
- Deep expertise in MDPs, policy gradient methods (PPO, SAC), and temporal difference learning
- Hands-on experience with Gymnasium-based environments and reward engineering (sparse vs. dense)
Preferred Qualifications
- Publications at NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, ACL, COLM, or similar venues
- Open-source contributions to post-training or agent frameworks (TRL, veRL, OpenRLHF, SkyRL)
- Experience with Offline RL (CQL, IQL), Model-based RL / World Models, or Hierarchical RL
- Background in synthetic data generation, simulation, or world models
- Domain experience in healthcare, finance, logistics, or compliance
- Distributed training on GPU clusters
How to Apply
Send your CV, a description of a technically complex system you personally built or led, and (if applicable) your publication list or open-source contributions to:
Subject: Senior Staff Research Scientist – RL $250k-$300k +
About Centific
Centific is a frontier AI data foundry that curates diverse, high-quality data, using our purpose-built technology platforms to empower the Magnificent Seven and our enterprise clients with safe, scalable AI deployment. Our team includes more than 150 PhDs and data scientists, along with more than 4,000 AI practitioners and engineers.
We harness the power of an integrated solution ecosystem—comprising industry-leading partnerships and 1.8 million vertical domain experts in more than 230 markets—to create contextual, multilingual, pre-trained datasets; fine-tuned, industry-specific LLMs; and RAG pipelines supported by vector databases. Our zero-distance innovation™ solutions for GenAI can reduce GenAI costs by up to 80% and bring solutions to market 50% faster.
Our mission is to bridge the gap between AI creators and industry leaders by bringing best practices in GenAI to unicorn innovators and enterprise customers. We aim to help these organizations unlock significant business value by deploying GenAI at scale, helping to ensure they stay at the forefront of technological advancement and maintain a competitive edge in their respective markets.
Why Join Centific
- Lead the frontier. Shape a new discipline at the intersection of post-training, simulation, and enterprise AI.
- Ship your science. See your research power real systems across healthcare, finance, and safety-critical operations.
- Collaborate with leaders. Work alongside NVIDIA, Microsoft, and the global AI community.
- Build what matters. Create governed, compliant AI systems enterprises can actually trust.
Equal opportunity and legal notices
Centific is an equal-opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, age, mental or physical disability, medical condition, sex (including pregnancy), gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, marital status, familial status, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. We consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements.
From Centific's careers page, first listed on Rolev.ai on October 11, 2026. Rolev.ai is not the employer.
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Common questions
What is the salary for the Principal Research Scientist, Reinforcement Learning role at Centific?
The Principal Research Scientist, Reinforcement Learning posting at Centific states compensation of $250,000 – $300,000 per year. Final pay may depend on location, experience, and interview evaluation on Centific's official career site.
Where is the Principal Research Scientist, Reinforcement Learning job at Centific located?
This Principal Research Scientist, Reinforcement Learning position at Centific is located in East Palo Alto, CA (On-site). Always check Centific's application page for specific state eligibility or relocation policies.
What qualifications are required for Principal Research Scientist, Reinforcement Learning at Centific?
For the Principal Research Scientist, Reinforcement Learning role, Centific highlights 7+ years of relevant experience; a master's degree; experience with RLHF, DPO, PPO, reward modeling, TRL, multi-turn tool-using agents. Rolev.ai can score your existing resume against these requirements and show any skill gaps before you apply.
How do I apply for the Principal Research Scientist, Reinforcement Learning position at Centific?
This listing links directly to Centific's Workday application page. You can apply directly on Centific's site, or use Rolev.ai to check your resume fit, generate a zero-hallucination tailored resume and cover letter for this posting, and autofill the Workday application form in 1 click with the Rolev.ai Chrome extension. You always review the form and press Submit yourself.