# Research, Pre-Training Data at Thinking Machines

- Company: Thinking Machines
- What the company does: Connectionism: Research Blog by Thinking Machines Lab. Backed by a16z, Accel and GV.
- Company website: https://thinkingmachines.ai/
- Type: Startups (AI role)
- Level: Mid level
- Location: San Francisco
- Work setup: Remote
- Pay: $350K to $475K base salary per year (USD)
- Posted: 2026-08-04
- Apply by: 2026-10-08
- Apply: https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/thinkingmachines/27ec4240-9f70-4ebe-abc0-a7336358a9a4
- Page: https://www.1752.vc/careers/jobs/thinking-machines-research-pre-training-data/

## About the role

The role of pre-training researchers sits at the core of our roadmap. This work blends research with large-scale data engineering to help assemble the pre-training datasets and data systems that underpin the next generation of AI models. You’ll design and implement methods for sourcing, curating, and analyzing pre-training data for quality and performance.

## What they're looking for

- Proficiency in Python and familiarity with at least one deep learning framework (e.g., PyTorch, TensorFlow, or JAX). Comfortable with debugging distributed training and writing code that scales
- Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Physics, Mathematics, or a related discipline with strong theoretical and empirical grounding
- Clarity in communication, an ability to explain complex technical concepts in writing
- Preferred qualifications — we encourage you to apply even if you don’t meet all preferred qualifications, but at least some:
- A strong grasp of probability, statistics, and ML fundamentals. You can look at experimental data and distinguish between real effects, noise, and bugs
- Experience with curation, preprocessing, and analysis of large-scale text, code, or multimodal datasets

Tags: Research