Research Scientist AI Incubation

What you can expect

Zooms AI Incubation team is seeking a Research Scientist to contribute to the next wave of LLM post-training reinforcement learning and federated AI innovation. You will join a world-class group of PhDs and applied scientists focused on pushing the boundaries of model alignment reasoning and agentic intelligence.

As a Research Scientist you will advance Zooms applied AI research working with cutting-edge LLM post-training RLHF/DPO/RLAIF federated AI and multimodal intelligence to deliver breakthroughs that redefine human-AI collaboration. You will participate in incubation efforts that transform bold research ideas into scalable production-ready systems powering the next generation of Zoom AI Companion.

About the Team

The AI Incubation team is a high-impact applied research group that has built one of the best-performing federated AI systems in the industry. The team operates at the frontier of LLM post-training reinforcement learning for agentic AI multimodal understanding federated AI and AI evaluation.

Zooms federated AI architecturespanning Anthropic OpenAI and Google modelsenables privacy-preserving edge-to-cloud learning that adapts to user context while maintaining enterprise-grade governance. The Incubation team plays a central role in advancing this federated AI leadership developing new methods for distributed model optimization personalized prefix learning and secure collaboration.

Responsibilities

• Conducting frontier research in LLM post-training reinforcement learning and federated AI to achieve state-of-the-art reasoning personalization and reliability.

• Developing and implementing evaluation and benchmarking frameworks for model performance safety and user experience across distributed environments.

• Contributing to model architectures fine-tuning strategies and reinforcement learning pipelines across Zooms federated AI ecosystem.

• Partnering with product and infra teams to translate research prototypes into scalable production-grade AI systems that leverage edge and cloud collaboration.

• Participating in a culture of scientific rigor creativity and rapid experimentation.

• Exploring emerging AI paradigmsfrom agentic reasoning and multimodal fusion to self-improving federated systemsto continuously advance Zooms AI frontier.

What were looking for

• Have a PhD or advanced degree in Computer Science Artificial Intelligence Machine Learning or a related field.

• Demonstrate proven expertise in LLM post-training RLHF/DPO/PPO federated learning or reinforcement learning for reasoning and alignment.

• Have deep understanding of large-scale distributed training systems and experience with PyTorch Transformers DeepSpeed or CUDA.

• Hold a publication or open-source record demonstrating innovation in LLM optimization federated AI or agentic intelligence.

• Demonstrate passion for applied AI research that bridges scientific discovery and real-world impact.

• Have experience implementing AI research concepts and translating them into practical applications.

Salary Range or On Target Earnings:

Minimum:

Maximum:

In addition to the base salary and/or OTE listed Zoom has a Total Direct Compensation philosophy that takes into consideration; base salary bonus and equity value.

Note: Starting pay will be based on a number of factors and commensurate with qualifications & experience.

We also have a location based compensation structure; there may be a different range for candidates in this and other locations.

Ways of Working
Our structured hybrid approach is centered around our offices and remote work environments. The work style of each role Hybrid Remote or In-Person is indicated in the job description/posting.

Benefits
As part of our award-winning workplace culture and commitment to delivering happiness our benefits program offers a variety of perks benefits and options to help employees maintain their physical mental emotional and financial health; support work-life balance; and contribute to their community in meaningful ways. Click Learn for more information.

About Us
Zoomies help people stay connected so they can get more done together. We set out to build the best collaboration platform for the enterprise and today help people communicate better with products like Zoom Contact Center Zoom Phone Zoom Events Zoom Apps Zoom Rooms and Zoom Webinars.
Were problem-solvers working at a fast pace to design solutions with our customers and users in mind. Find room to grow with opportunities to stretch your skills and advance your career in a collaborative growth-focused environment.

Our Commitment

At Zoom we believe great work happens when people feel supported and empowered. Were committed to fair hiring practices that ensure every candidate is evaluated based on skills experience and potential. If you require an accommodation during the hiring process let us knowwere here to support you at every step.

We welcome people of different backgrounds experiences abilities and perspectives including qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records and any qualified applicants requiring reasonable accommodations in accordance with the law.

If you need assistance navigating the interview process due to a medical disability please submit an Accommodations Request Form and someone from our team will reach out soon. This form is solely for applicants who require an accommodation due to a qualifying medical disability. Non-accommodation-related requests such as application follow-ups or technical issues will not be addressed.

Think of this opportunity as a marathon not a sprint! Were building a strong team at Zoom and were looking for talented individuals to join us for the long haul. No need to rush your application take your time to ensure its a good fit for your career goals. We continuously review applications so submit yours whenever youre ready to take the next step.