Applied Research Engineer

HUD is building infrastructure to create RL training data and evals for frontier AI agents, as well as a marketplace to sell these to frontier labs through the HUD marketplace. Our platform is used by frontier labs, Fortune 500 companies, and startups. We’ve raised $16M from top VCs and were YC W25.

We’re looking for an Applied Research Engineer to own implementation. Our data buyers and sellers often have time-sensitive asks such as troubleshooting and running evals or cleaning data at scale. You’ll take the lead on diagnosing ambiguous technical problems and resolving them. This work is broad and hands-on - the right fit is a strong generalist AI engineer who can move quickly and wants to work closely with frontier AI labs and data vendors.

Proficiency in Python, Docker, and Linux environments

Experience working on benchmarks and evals - you can reason about what makes a task realistic, a rubric reliable, an environment usable, and a trajectory useful for RL training

Strong debugging instincts across code, data, and environments

Demonstrated ability to operate independently in ambiguous situations without a fully prescribed roadmap

Strong judgment about when to move fast, when to escalate, and when correctness or security requires extra care

Comfort working directly with technical customers, vendors, or cross-functional internal teams

Experience in applied research engineering or forward-deployed engineering

Experience handling urgent production, customer, or deployment issues

Early-stage startup experience with ability to work independently in fast-paced environments

Strong communication skills for remote collaboration across time zones

We prioritize technical aptitude and learning potential over years of experience. Motivated candidates are encouraged to apply even if they don't meet all criteria.

Team Size : ~15 people currently, mostly full-time in-person, but some remote.

Our team: Our team includes 4 International Olympiad medalists (IOI, ILO, IPhO), serial AI startup founders, and researchers with publications at ICLR, NeurIPS, etc.

Company stage: We have 8 figures in funding and high revenue growth. We’re scaling profitably and quickly to meet very strong demand.

Employment : Full-time.

Location : On-site only, for now. You can join the team in the San Francisco Bay Area or Singapore offices.

Visa Sponsorship : We provide support for relocation and visas for strong full-time candidates to the US or Singapore.

Timeline : Applications are rolling. The process is 2 technical interviews and a 2-3 day work trial.