Senior Manager, AI Foundation Model

Merlin Labs

. Own Merlin's foundation and world-model technical strategy, including architecture selection, build-vs-adapt decisions, post-training approach, and capability roadmap .

Posted 9/23/2026full-timeBoston • Massachusetts • United StatesSeniorWebsite

Core Competencies

Role fit

Core Competencies

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Demonstrates expertise in AI systems development, particularly in world models and learned dynamics, with a strong focus on technical leadership, team management, and rigorous evaluation practices. Proficient in delivering AI-powered models into production while ensuring compliance with regulatory standards.

Highest-signal resume keywords

AI Systems DevelopmentTechnical Team LeadershipModel Evaluation PracticesPyTorch ProficiencyC++ Real-Time Systems

ATS Keywords

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Applicant Tracking System Keywords

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Hard Skills

World ModelsLearned DynamicsSequence ModelsPost-Training TechniquesEvaluation Harness BuildingRegression TestingTechnical WritingRoboticsAutonomous VehiclesIndustrial Autonomy

Soft Skills

Team ManagementMentoringClear Communication

Industry Keywords

AI-Powered ModelsRegulatory ComplianceReal-Time SystemsAutonomy StackBehavior PlanningSafety EngineeringEmbodied AIRobot Learning

Tech Stack

Tools & technologies

PyTorchC++

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Own Merlin's foundation and world-model technical strategy, including architecture selection, build-vs-adapt decisions, post-training approach, and capability roadmap
Lead and mentor a small team of world-model and post-training engineers
Set the technical bar and review culture for model work across AI Core
Design the model interface to the autonomy stack using structured, schema-constrained plan outputs accepted or rejected by a deterministic verifier
Define evaluation criteria before training begins
Build the evaluation harness, capability taxonomy, and regression suite for model releases
Establish uncertainty quantification and out-of-distribution detection as first-class model outputs
Deliver reproducible comparisons between learned planning and current rule-based behavior planning across representative mission profiles
Partner with Systems Engineering, Certification, and the Chief Architect on regulator-defensible model design
Track external research and decide what Merlin adopts, builds, or ignores

Requirements

What you’ll need

Degree in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Computer Engineering, Applied Math, or a related subject
8+ years building AI systems
3+ years leading technical teams or owning a major model program
Proven team management experience shipping high-tech, AI-powered models into production
Experience hiring and developing AI engineers, setting technical direction and priorities, and owning delivery from research through deployment
Demonstrated ownership of a learned system shipped into a physical, real-time product in robotics, autonomous vehicles, aerospace, or industrial autonomy
Depth in at least two of: world models and learned dynamics; sequence models applied to planning or control; post-training (SFT, preference optimization, RL fine-tuning); structured or constrained generation
Rigorous evaluation practice, including building evaluation harnesses that catch regressions
Strong PyTorch skills
Comfortable reading and reasoning about C++ real-time systems
Clear technical writing for systems engineers, safety engineers, and regulators
Must be authorized to work in the United States without visa sponsorship now or in the future
Must pass background and reference checks
Nice to have: experience with learned components in certified or regulated products, classical planning, behavior trees, MCTS, hierarchical task networks, aviation domain structure, or publications/open-source contributions in embodied AI, world models, or robot learning

Benefits

Comp & perks

Catered lunches with a rotating menu
Assortment of snacks
Coffee, tea, and other beverages
Health insurance
Dental insurance
Life insurance
Unlimited vacation
401(k) with match
Work/life integration
Professional development support
Team-focused startup environment