Founding Research Scientist
Toronto
Astrus /
Remote
About Astrus
At Astrus, we are using AI to automate microchip design, starting with the biggest bottleneck, analog layout. We are on a mission to radically improve global computation and empower chip designers to create the world's most advanced microchips with AI. We are backed by top tier VC firms: Khosla Ventures and 1517 Fund. We are seeking a Research Engineer with expertise in AI and software engineering to join our team.
🚀 Discover Astrus
About the Role
As Founding Research Engineer, you will have the opportunity to play a leading role in developing the AI backend for one of the most technically ambitious startups and radically improve global computation. 🚀 As the lead member of the AI team, you will work hand in hand with the CTO to bring the AI to life. You will also collaborate with the product engineering team to ensure seamless integration of the AI into the product.
Learn why our CTO calls this the DRL Dream Role.
Our AI backend is the most important system at Astrus, and the quality of the generated layouts will largely dictate the value of our product to our users, and the overall value of Astrus. You will play a leading role in the creation of this AI Design Agent. This includes refining the problem formulation through customer discovery; designing feature representation of circuit schematics and layouts; experimenting with various neural net architectures, reinforcement learning algorithms, and feature engineering techniques; scaling up the training pipeline to train and inference efficiently; and push the boundaries of what is possible. This will require you to wear many hats and have a broad understanding of software development and AI literature.
You will begin your role as an individual contributor, responsible for developing the core AI Design Agent and establishing the technical foundation. As you gain more experience and expertise in the role, you will have the opportunity to grow and lead AI teams, playing a critical role in shaping the future of Astrus.
To reflect this high-level of responsibility and impact, we will issue generous stock options.
What you will do
- Develop AI Design Agent: Lead the creation and improvement of the AI Design Agent for automating analog layouts.
- Collaborate with Engineers: Work with infrastructure and Layout Game Engine (environment) teams to optimize AI performance.
- Feature Engineering: Identify and implement key features for AI models.
- NN Architecture: Design and refine neural network architectures.
- Refine Reward Functions: Enhance reward mechanisms to improve AI training outcomes.
- Customer Insight: Engage in customer discovery to understand microchip layout needs.
- Leadership Growth: Have the capacity to grow into a leader at Astrus and gain ownership and responsibility for key systems.
Who you are
- You are aligned with our core values, which you can find here, and are excited about our mission.
- You have software engineering experience with hands-on experience with developing and deploying AI systems.
- You have a high-level understanding of reinforcement learning, deep learning, search and other AI concepts.
- Proficient with Python and libraries such as JAX, PyTorch, or Ray.
- Master or PhD in a relevant domain.
- Bonus points for having an interest in electrical engineering, circuits, or semiconductors.
$180,000 - $180,000 a year
To reflect this high level of responsibility and impact, we will issue generous stock options. 3% of Astrus, ~10x industry standard.
Ready to radically improve global computation? 🚀📈🌎 🤖
