Engineer Intern, GenAI Research (Summer Internship)

Appen is a leader in AI training data, specializing in human-generated data for training and evaluating models across various AI domains. They are seeking an Engineer Intern for their GenAI research team to design and implement workflows that enhance model performance and improve production models. The role involves hands-on ownership of training pipelines, benchmark development, and model improvement initiatives.

Responsibilities:

• Design and implement a lightweight supervised fine tuning training pipeline using open source LLMs
• Create new benchmarks to evaluate frontier models across defined scientific and performance criteria
• Analyze production models to identify measurable areas for improvement
• Improve model performance through targeted retraining and hyperparameter search
• Deploy improved models while maintaining core model characteristics and avoiding regression
• Build Python tooling to automate training, evaluation, benchmarking, and experimentation workflows
• Implement structured evaluation methods, including rubric based scoring and LLM as a judge workflows
• Document experimental design, benchmark methodology, and performance results with clarity and precision
• Iterate rapidly in a research driven environment to increase model quality and reliability

Requirements:

• Current enrollment in or recent completion of a Master's or PhD in Computer Science, AI, Machine Learning, Computer Engineering, or a closely related technical field
• Strong experience working with large language models, including supervised fine tuning, prompt engineering, or model evaluation
• Hands on experience building machine learning pipelines or research infrastructure
• Experience improving model performance through retraining or hyperparameter tuning
• Proficiency in Python and comfort working with machine learning frameworks and open source model ecosystems
• Familiarity with cloud environments such as AWS or Azure
• Strong technical problem solving ability, including use of LLMs as development aids for building and iteration
• Ability to work independently with minimal hand holding
• Strong written communication skills for summarising research and drafting technical documentation
• Ability to collaborate effectively in a remote research environment