Staff Engineer, World Model Development
Merlin Labs14 hours ago
Boston, MA, USAStaff+
Base Salary
$185k - $325k/yr
Responsibilities
- Design, train, and evaluate world models that predict aircraft state, environmental conditions, and other traffic under candidate action sequences.
- Build rollout and imagination machinery for planners to evaluate candidate plans against predicted outcomes.
- Develop calibrated predictive uncertainty and out-of-distribution signals for the safety monitoring layer.
- Characterize model validity boundaries across flight regimes, weather, traffic densities, and configurations.
- Work with the Data/Sim team to train in simulation, validate against flight data, and improve simulator fidelity.
- Benchmark learned dynamics against physics-based and flight-controls models.
- Contribute to shared evaluation infrastructure and ensure results are traceable to data versions, configurations, and random seeds.
Requirements
- Degree in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Computer Engineering, Applied Mathematics, or a related subject.
- 10+ years building and training deep learning models, including meaningful work on sequence, dynamics, video, or trajectory prediction.
- Strong PyTorch skills and knowledge of distributed training, mixed precision, experiment tracking, and debugging training runs.
- Working knowledge of dynamical systems, state estimation, or control, including the ability to interpret flight dynamics models.
- Demonstrated rigor in evaluation and uncertainty quantification.
- Comfort working with messy real-world sensor and telemetry data.
- Preferred experience with model-based reinforcement learning, latent dynamics models, learned simulators, autonomous-driving or robotics trajectory prediction, aerospace, flight dynamics, aircraft performance, air traffic, or multimodal fusion.
Benefits
- The position is based on-site at Merlin headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts.
- Benefits include health, dental, life insurance, unlimited vacation, and a 401(k) with company match.
- On-site perks include catered lunches, snacks, and beverages including coffee and tea.
- The company offers professional-development support and an entrepreneurial, team-focused startup environment.
Tech Stack
Categories
About Merlin Labs
Merlin Labs builds an aircraft-agnostic autonomy system—Merlin Pilot—that acts as a non-human pilot from takeoff to touchdown for civil and defense operators. The company sells AI-powered flight software and integration services, validated through hundreds of autonomous test flights across multiple aircraft. Founded in 2019 and headquartered in Boston, it is listed on NASDAQ (MRLN) and has secured $100M+ in awarded contracts from military customers.