Ever wondered what the meaning is in the songs of whales, in the chirping of
the birds in your garden, or in the ultrasonic communications of bats? You’re
not alone… Earth Species Project (ESP) is a non-profit research lab and impact
organization dedicated to using AI to solve these questions. We believe the
exponential progress we’re seeing in AI offers new ways of looking at the
world and expanding the ability of human beings to learn from other species.
Our hope is that this will make a significant contribution to altering human
perspective on how we relate to the rest of nature. ESP partners with
biologists and machine learning researchers at leading universities and
institutions around the world, and we are honored to be supported by many
forward-looking philanthropists and groups, including the Paul G Allen Family
Foundation and the National Geographic Society. As the ability of AI to
generate fluent human communication has advanced, so too has the public and
scientific interest in what the potential of this technology might be for the
animal domain. ESP’s work has been widely featured in the mainstream and
scientific press over the past three years, from The Guardian to the New York
Times, TIME magazine, Science, Scientific American, WIRED and the Financial
Times. Our dynamic global team is growing, and we are looking for a talented
communications professional with exceptional strategic and storytelling skills
to lead efforts to engage key target audiences in our work and to super-power
our mission. We are seeking an experienced and passionate Machine Learning
Operations Engineer to join our team. This is a unique opportunity to apply
cutting-edge data engineering and machine learning techniques to hard
challenges in the fields of bioacoustics, animal communication, and
conservation. The ideal candidate will have a strong background in data
engineering and machine learning, with a passion for environmental science and
conservation. Initially, this role will be very hands-on, but we expect this
person to grow into a leadership role. Key Responsibilities Infrastructure
Management: Oversee ESP's ML infrastructure, maximizing performance. Evaluate
hosting options, negotiate with providers, and configure infrastructure
(cloud-based, on-premise, or a hybrid model). Interdisciplinary Collaboration:
Work closely with machine learning scientists and biologist/ecologist partners
to support the implementation of ML models in the study of non-human
communication. Data Pipeline Development: Build and manage data scraping and
processing pipelines for large-scale machine learning model training. Model
Optimization & Deployment: Conduct R&D; to retrain, optimize, scale-up, and
deploy ML models, converting them to portable formats like ONNX. Code Base
Maintenance: Maintain a unified code base for data processing, ML training,
and analysis tools. Demo Applications: Translate complex research into
practical demo applications for bioacoustic data analysis. Continuous
Learning: Stay updated with the latest advancements in machine learning and
explore their applications within the organization. Qualifications Advanced
degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Machine Learning, or a related
field. Co-authored publications at top AI conferences such as NeurIPS, ICML,
ICLR, AAAI. Experience with training large ML models on large datasets,
including data and model parallelization and foundation models. Strong
experience in infrastructure building and software development using Python.
Proven experience in developing large-scale data collection and processing
pipelines. Expertise in deploying ML and deep learning models at scale.
Familiarity with major ML frameworks such as PyTorch, TensorFlow, and/or JAX.
Experience with cloud infrastructure providers like GCP, Azure, AWS. Strong
problem-solving abilities and creativity. Excellent communication skills,
capable of explaining complex concepts to non-technical audiences. Experience
in a fast-growing startup environment with leadership potential. Preferred
Qualifications Familiarity with bioacoustics or animal communication. Passion
for environmental science and conservation. Experience with Python audio
processing libraries like librosa or torchaudio. We are a fully remote team,
and you can be located anywhere in the world, with expectations to
occasionally participate in virtual meetings outside your typical working
hours. Additionally, you must have the willingness to travel internationally
(<20%) for events and in-person team gatherings. Benefits $155,000-185,000 USD
depending on the level of seniority. Medical insurance, dental insurance, and
vision insurance - ESP covers 100% of the premium 401k plan with match (if
based in the United States) 2,000 USD home office stipend Unlimited paid time
off, with a recommended minimum of three weeks per year Flexible working hours
Regular team retreats around the world Earth Species Project is a fully remote
team, we strive to create a culture where all can thrive and be our authentic
selves is essential to our mission. We believe our success depends on our
diversity and fostering an inclusive environment that supports creativity and
innovation. As an organization, we are committed to promoting equity and
belonging in our work. We are committed to equal employment opportunities
regardless of race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression,
pregnancy, sexual orientation, marital status, ancestry, national origin,
genetics, disability, age, veteran status, and criminal history, consistent
with legal requirements. We encourage folks of all backgrounds and
perspectives to apply. If you require any accommodations, please email us at
[email protected], and we’ll work with you to meet your accessibility
needs.
