Research Software Engineer (Open Philanthropy) (Fixed Term)
Location: Cambridge / Closing date: January 5, 2025
The Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence (CFI), University of Cambridge, is seeking a part-time Software Engineer to contribute to a two-year project focused on developing a benchmark for measuring the ability of Artificial Intelligence (AI) agents on real-world data science tasks. The Software Engineer will join the Kinds of Intelligence team at CFI, a multidisciplinary team comprising expertise in Computer Science, AI, cognitive science, and others.
The Software Engineer’s main duty will be creating the interface through which the AI agents interact with the tasks and helping with running experiments with baseline agents based on state-of-the-art Large Language Models (LLMs). Further, the Software Engineer will help with designing the overall structure of the benchmark, determining the grading criteria of the tasks and developing the tasks composing the benchmark, which will be adapted from university-level courses or built from new tasks in collaboration with industry professionals.
Applicants should have, or be about to obtain, an undergraduate or postgraduate degree. The degree should be in a technical field including (but not limited to) software engineering, computer science, artificial intelligence, and data science. We expect the successful candidate to be capable of working independently and in collaboration with others, to possess very strong programming skills (preferably in Python) and command of the Linux operating system (including via Bash scripting), as well as familiarity with version control systems (e.g., Git) and with computing servers. Experience with creating Python libraries, handling virtual coding environments, using GPUs, and working with and evaluating LLMs would be beneficial but are not required. All applicants should be able to demonstrate strong motivation in line with the goals of CFI and the desire to improve their research skills.
This role is part-time (0.2 FTE) and will be fixed term until 30 September 2026.
In order for your application to be considered, please ensure to upload the following:
* Covering letter of no more than 500 words explaining your interest in the position and outlining how you meet the criteria set out in the person specification within the further particulars; in the covering letter, you can optionally include a link to a coding project you carried out and you believe demonstrates your programming ability.
* Contact details of two referees who are familiar with your work.
If you upload any additional documents which have not been requested, we will not be able to consider these as part of your application.
The closing date for applications is midnight (GMT) on Sunday 5 January 2025. Interviews are planned for the week commencing 20 January 2025, subject to change.
Click the ‘Apply’ button below to register an account with our recruitment system (if you have not already) and apply online.
Please quote reference GO44328 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.
The University actively supports equality, diversity, and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.
The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.
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