ml eng edits

content/careers/Founding Engineer.md

@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ tags:
 (NYC, Full-Time)
 
 ## About the Role
+
 We're searching for a founding engineer to help build the future of Plastic. As a key technical leader, you'll work directly with the CTO to architect and implement Honcho, our distributed user representation infrastructure, while co-creating the next generation of decentralized AI agent coordination systems.
 
 This role requires a systems-oriented engineer who can architect, build, and maintain complex distributed systems from the ground up. You'll make critical technical decisions across the entire stack, from designing scalable distributed architectures to implementing robust backend systems and managing cloud deployments. You'll also help shape our technical strategy around distributed consensus, network reliability, and system scalability.
@@ -16,12 +17,14 @@ This role requires a systems-oriented engineer who can architect, build, and mai
 While distributed systems expertise is core to this role, we need a versatile technical leader who can fill gaps wherever needed. You'll be responsible for end-to-end ownership of projects, from high-level architecture to hands-on implementation. If you're excited by solving complex distributed systems challenges, can think deeply about system design, and want to help define fundamentally new technological paradigms, let's talk.
 
 ## About You
+
 - 3-4 years experience in similar roles or equivalent
 - High cultural alignment with Plastic Labs' ethos
 - NYC-based or open to NYC relocation
 - All requirements listed for our [[Full-Stack Engineer]] role, plus...
 
 ### Technical Expertise
+
 - Deep experience with distributed systems design and implementation
 - Strong background in containerization and orchestration (Kubernetes, Nomad, etc.)
 - Experience building and maintaining microservice architectures
@@ -30,6 +33,7 @@ While distributed systems expertise is core to this role, we need a versatile te
 - Experience with high-throughput, large-scale network systems
 
 ### Leadership & Execution
+
 - Adept at thinking globally & locally, at multiple layers of abstraction, & high-level synthesis
 - Comfortable solving problems with high-agency, broad freedom, & significant responsibility
 - Track record of managing projects & shipping/owning end-to-end
@@ -37,6 +41,7 @@ While distributed systems expertise is core to this role, we need a versatile te
 - Strong DevSecOps background
 
 ### Additional Qualities
+
 - Up to date interest in OS AI community & LLM technologies
 - Experience with cryptography, machine learning, or identity systems, a plus
 - Complementary interests in cognitive sciences (linguistics, neuroscience, philosophy, psychology, etc) or other adjacent interdisciplinary fields, a plus

content/careers/Founding ML Engineer.md

@@ -11,9 +11,10 @@ tags:
 (NYC, Full-Time)
 
 ## About the Role
-We're seeking an exceptional ML engineer/leader who can architect breakthrough systems while staying immersed in cutting-edge research. You'll shape the AI direction of Plastic Labs directly with the CEO, tackling challenges across the entire machine learning stack.
 
-This role demands someone who thrives at the intersection of research and engineering--someone who can read and reproduce state-of-the-art papers, design novel architectures, and transform promising experiments into production-ready systems. You'll move fluidly between theoretical frameworks and practical implementation, making intuitive decisions about model architecture, quantization strategies, and serving infrastructure.
+We're seeking a leading machine learning engineer who can architect breakthrough systems while staying immersed in cutting-edge research. In direct collaboration with the CEO, you'll shape the future of AI at Plastic--tackling challenges across the entire machine learning stack.
+
+This role demands someone who thrives at the intersection of research and engineering; someone who can read and reproduce state-of-the-art papers, design novel architectures, and transform promising experiments into production-ready systems. You'll move fluidly between theoretical frameworks and practical implementation, making intuitive decisions about model architecture, quantization strategies, and serving infrastructure.
 
 We need a technical polymath who excels across the ML stack: from designing systematic experiments and running rigorous evaluations to building robust data pipelines and scalable model serving/inference systems. You should be particularly adept with post-training techniques that are redefining the field--from advanced inference-time computation methods to reinforcement learning with reasoning models. 
 
@@ -22,7 +23,10 @@ The LLM space moves at lightning speed, and so do we. You'll prototype rapidly w
 We're building systems that haven't been built before, solving problems that haven't been solved. If you're a technical leader who thrives on these challenges and can serve as our ML north star, we want you on our team.
 
 ## About You
+
 - 3+ years of applied ML experience with deep LLM expertise
+- High cultural alignment with Plastic Labs' ethos
+- NYC-based or open to NYC relocation
 - Strong command of a popular Python ML library (e.g PyTorch, TF, JAX, HF transformers, etc)
 - Experience replicating research papers soon after publication
 - Experience building and scaling robust inference systems
@@ -31,23 +35,11 @@ We're building systems that haven't been built before, solving problems that hav
 - Proficiency with Unix environments and developer tools (Git, Docker, etc.)
 - Up-to-date with the Open Source AI community and emerging technologies
 - Self-directed with a bias toward rapid execution
-- High cultural alignment with Plastic Labs' ethos
-- Based in NYC or willing to relocate
 - Driven to push language models beyond conventional boundaries
-- Background in cognitive sciences (CS, linguistics, neuroscience, philosophy, psychology) or related fields a plus
-
-
-## How to Apply
-Please send the following to research@plasticlabs.ai:
-- **Resume/CV** in whatever form it exists (PDF, LinkedIn, website, etc)
-- **Portfolio** of notable work (GitHub, pubs, ArXiv, blog, X, etc)
-- **Statement** of alignment specific to Plastic Labs--how do you identify with our mission, how can you contribute, etc? (points for brief, substantive, heterodox)
-
-Applications without these 3 items won't be considered, but be sure to optimize for speed over perfection. If relevant, be sure to credit the LLM you used.
-
-And it can't hurt to [join Discord](https://discord.gg/plasticlabs) and introduce yourself or engage with [our GitHub](https://github.com/plastic-labs).
+- Background in cognitive sciences (CS, linguistics, neuroscience, philosophy, psychology, etc...) or related fields a plus
 
 ## Research We're Excited About
+
 [s1: Simple test-time scaling](https://arxiv.org/abs/2501.19393)  
 [Neural Networks Are Elastic Origami!](https://youtu.be/l3O2J3LMxqI?si=bhodv2c7GG75N2Ku)  
 [Titans: Learning to Memorize at Test Time](https://arxiv.org/abs/2501.00663v1)  
@@ -69,7 +61,7 @@ And it can't hurt to [join Discord](https://discord.gg/plasticlabs) and introduc
 [Claude's Character](https://www.anthropic.com/research/claude-character)  
 [Language Models Represent Space and Time](https://arxiv.org/pdf/2310.02207)  
 [Generative Agents: Interactive Simulacra of Human Behavior](https://arxiv.org/abs/2304.03442)  
-[Meta-Rewarding Language Models: Self-Improving Alignment with LLM-as-a-Meta-Judge](https://arxiv.org/abs/2407.19594)  
+[Meta-Rewarding Language Models: Self-Improving Alignment with LLM-as-a-Meta-Judge](https://arxiv.org/abs/2407.19594) 
 [Cyborgism](https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/bxt7uCiHam4QXrQAA/cyborgism)  
 [Spontaneous Reward Hacking in Iterative Self-Refinement](https://arxiv.org/abs/2407.04549)  
 [... accompanying twitter thread](https://x.com/JanePan_/status/1813208688343052639)  

content/careers/Full-Stack Engineer.md

@@ -9,16 +9,19 @@ tags:
 (NYC, Full-Time)
 
 ## About the Role
+
 We're searching for a product-minded full stack engineer to help shape and build Honcho's user-facing applications. You'll work at the intersection of design and engineering, rapidly iterating on product features while ensuring seamless integration with our infrastructure.
 
 This role requires someone who can transform ideas into polished user experiences, from initial mockups to production-ready features. You'll be responsible for crafting intuitive interfaces, implementing responsive designs, and building the APIs that power them. If you're passionate about creating exceptional user experiences, can move quickly from concept to implementation, and love working at the frontier of AI technology, we want to hear from you.
 
 ## About You
+
 - 1-2 years experience or equivalent (new grads OK)
 - High cultural alignment with Plastic Labs' ethos
 - NYC-based or open to NYC relocation
 
 ### Technical Skills
+
 - Strong foundation in modern web development (Next.js, React)
 - Experience with Python backend development and FastAPI
 - Proficiency in building and maintaining CRUD APIs
@@ -28,6 +31,7 @@ This role requires someone who can transform ideas into polished user experience
 - Experience building with or integrating LLM-powered features
 
 ### Design & Product Skills
+
 - Eye for design and attention to detail
 - Experience translating mockups into production features
 - Ability to iterate quickly on user interfaces
@@ -36,6 +40,7 @@ This role requires someone who can transform ideas into polished user experience
 - Interest in user experience and interaction design
 
 ### Nice to Have
+
 - Design portfolio showcasing previous work
 - Experience with design tools (Figma, Sketch)
 - Formal UI/UX training or experience
@@ -43,6 +48,7 @@ This role requires someone who can transform ideas into polished user experience
 - Background in user research or usability testing
 
 ### Additional Qualities
+
 - Impulse for rapid learning & trying new tech
 - Interest in AI and LLM technologies
 - Complementary interest in cognitive sciences (ml, linguistics, neuroscience, philosophy, psychology, etc) or other adjacent interdisciplinary fields, a plus

content/careers/Platform Engineer.md

@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ tags:
 (NYC, Full-Time)
 
 ## About the Role
+
 We're searching for a platform engineer to build and scale Honcho's infrastructure, ensuring our user representation system remains performant, reliable, and secure as we push the boundaries of AI personalization.
 
 This role focuses on the critical backend and infrastructure components that power our platform. You'll work on performance optimization, auto-scaling systems, and security while contributing to core backend feature development. We need someone who can balance infrastructure reliability with shipping new capabilities, thinking deeply about system architecture while writing production code.
@@ -16,6 +17,7 @@ This role focuses on the critical backend and infrastructure components that pow
 This is an opportunity to shape the foundation of a novel technological system. If you're passionate about building robust, scalable infrastructure and writing high-performance backend code that powers next-generation AI systems, we want to hear from you.
 
 ## About You
+
 - 2-4 years experience in similar roles or equivalent
 - High cultural alignment with Plastic Labs' ethos
 - NYC-based or open to NYC relocation