Research Engineer

The Renaissance Philanthropy Engineering Hub provides on-demand development technical assistance in support of grant-funded educational technology projects. Our support allows mission-driven teams to overcome hurdles and achieve their technical and impact goals.

Why Join Us?

We solve educational technology problems that require creativity, analytical rigor, and a deep understanding of emerging AI capabilities. Members of our team are trusted technical partners who help shape product strategy, architect novel solutions, and prototype new ideas from first principles. We move quickly, operate with a high degree of independence, and take pride in delivering reliable, thoughtfully-designed systems that make a meaningful difference.

If you’re excited about applying modern generative and predictive technologies to real-world learning challenges—and want the opportunity to experiment, innovate, and guide others—this is the place for you.

What You’ll Do

As a Research Engineer on our Engineering Hub, you will:

Technical Strategy & Consultation

• Provide hands-on guidance to product and research teams, shaping technical roadmaps aligned with ambitious program goals.
• Review architectures, prototypes, and designs to ensure feasibility, quality, and long-term maintainability.
• Advise teams on best practices for evaluating and integrating new generative technologies, including LLMs, agentic systems, and novel model architectures.
• Support technical hiring efforts by helping teams identify the capabilities needed to bring new products to life.

Prototype, Build, and Evaluate

Develop proof-of-concepts that explore new applications of generative AI and validate the viability of emerging approaches.

• Implement and review production-grade machine learning pipelines, often involving experimental techniques or domain-optimized model designs.
• Lead evaluations of ML/AI systems to ensure performance, reliability, and safety in student- and educator-facing applications.
• Translate early research ideas into deployable, scalable features that unlock new product functionality.

Collaborate, Adapt, and Learn

• Work directly with non-technical stakeholders to surface product needs and convert them into actionable technical requirements.
• Develop solutions that balance functionality, robustness, and data collection needs to support authentic product impact measurement (e.g., A/B testing).
• Clearly communicate the limitations, risks, and failure modes of advanced models—and help teams understand when they can (or cannot) be mitigated.
• Continuously expand your expertise as emerging technologies evolve.

You may be a great match if you have:

• Proven experience building production-grade ML-powered software in a commercial environment.
• A track record of conducting and publishing research in fields that study human behavior (e.g., psychology, education, user experience, economics, social science).
• Hands-on familiarity with modern generative AI techniques, such as LLM evaluation frameworks, RAG systems, and agentic architectures.
• A passion for educational technology and a desire to see advanced models applied responsibly and creatively.
• Strong communication skills and the ability to collaborate across disciplines.

Candidates with experience developing tools for students, teachers, or learning organizations are strongly encouraged to apply here:

https://www.renaissancephilanthropy.org/careers/research-engineer-engineering-hub

We offer a comprehensive benefits package, including competitive salary, health insurance (medical, dental, and vision), retirement plan options with employer matching, unlimited paid time off, and additional stipends for wellness, transportation, and telecommunications. Benefits may vary based on location and employment status.