AI Researcher

Maincode is building sovereign AI models in Australia. We are training foundation models from scratch, designing new reasoning architectures, and deploying them on state-of-the-art GPU clusters. This is not fine-tuning someone else’s work. This is building new systems from first principles. As an AI Researcher, you’ll help design the next generation of foundation models. You'll explore novel model architectures, training objectives, and data representations that push the limits of what models can do. You’ll ask the hard questions:

where do today’s systems fall short in reasoning, learning efficiency, or alignment, and how could we do better? Then, you'll prototype solutions to find out. This is a deep applied research role. You'll write code to test your ideas, run experiments, and refine architectures until they show real-world potential. When your models are ready to scale, you’ll work side by side with our AI Engineers to take them from prototypes to large-scale training runs and deployed systems.

If you love reading the latest papers, imagining what could be better, and proving it with working models, you'll feel right at home here.

What you’ll doDesign and prototype new foundation model architectures, reasoning systems, and training algorithmsExplore better ways to represent data, design training objectives, and build models that reason, learn, and align more effectivelyBuild experimental models and pipelines to test your ideas on real-world dataStay deeply engaged with state-of-the-art research in venues like NeurIPS, ICLR, and ICML, and think critically about where the field is heading and how we can push it furtherWork closely with AI Engineers to transition prototypes into large-scale training and inference systemsHelp shape the intellectual direction of our sovereign AI efforts in Australia, advancing the science of how models learn and reasonContribute to a collaborative, open-minded team culture that values rigor, creativity, and building things that workWho you areAn experienced researcher with deep academic or applied horsepower, whether from machine learning, physics, neuroscience, applied mathematics, or another rigorous fieldHave built, trained, or experimented with deep learning models and are deeply curious about how to make them betterA regular reader and thinker in AI and machine learning research, with the ability to spot emerging trends, gaps in today’s models, and new directions to exploreSkilled in Python and machine learning frameworks like PyTorch, with a strong focus on hands-on experimentationComfortable turning abstract research questions into concrete model designs, experiments, and insightsExcited to work closely with AI Engineers to translate research into robust, scalable systemsMotivated to help build sovereign AI capability here in AustraliaWhy MaincodeWe are a small team building some of the most advanced AI systems in Australia.

We are creating new foundation models from scratch, not just using what’s already out there. We operate our own GPU clusters, run large-scale training, and work closely across research and engineering to push the frontier of what’s possible. You'll be surrounded by people who: Care about model internals, not just outputsBuild things that work, at scaleTake pride in learning, experimenting, and shippingWant to help Australia build independent, world-class AI systemsCompensation Range: A$150K - A$180K