Member of Technical Staff, Research Tooling & Data Platform
Runway · United States
- Hybrid
- Full-time
- $150,000 / year
- United States
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Job highlights
- Owns internal data analysis and evaluation platform.
- Accelerates ML research and decision-making.
- Optimizes data queries and infrastructure.
- Builds user-friendly ML workflows.
- Manages cloud infrastructure and services.
About the role
Member of Technical Staff, Research Tooling & Data Platform at Runway
Runway is building AI to simulate the world by merging art and science. We believe world models are the frontier of AI progress, crucial for solving complex problems in robotics, disease, and scientific discovery. Our team is composed of creative, open-minded, caring, and ambitious individuals dedicated to changing the world and building the impossible.
About The Role
We are seeking an engineer to take ownership of Runway's internal exploratory data analysis (EDA) and evaluation platform. This platform is vital for our ML research, design, product, and creative teams, directly impacting research velocity and decision-making across the company. You will be responsible for the entire product experience, from optimizing database queries and managing infrastructure to developing user-facing features that simplify complex ML workflows for non-engineers.
A Peek at Our Technical Stack
- API endpoints for real-time collaboration and media asset management: TypeScript, ECS on AWS Fargate.
- AWS-native components: S3, CloudFront, Lambda, Kinesis, SQS.
- Inference backend: Python (PyTorch, TorchScript), multiple clusters/cloud providers, Kubernetes for orchestration.
- Kubernetes-native components: Flyte, Kueue, Kyverno for job orchestration.
- Monitoring: Prometheus, Grafana.
- Infrastructure management: Terraform.
What You’ll Do
- Own the EDA platform end-to-end: Take full ownership of architecture, infrastructure, feature development, and operations.
- Optimize for scale: Improve query performance and write efficiency for vector search, integrate with new data warehouses, and optimize our custom query parsing/suggestion system.
- Build for researchers: Design and ship features that help ML researchers source data faster, run more effective evaluations, and iterate quickly.
- Enable cross-functional users: Work with design, product, and creative teams to build intuitive evaluation workflows.
- Manage infrastructure: Deploy and maintain services across ECS and Kubernetes, including embedding services and database integrations.
- Provide support: Be responsive to user needs, debug issues quickly, and gather feedback to prioritize improvements.
What You’ll Need
- 4+ years of industry experience in a backend-focused software engineering role.
- Strong experience in at least 2 of 3 areas: platform/infrastructure, ML domain knowledge, or frontend/product engineering, with eagerness to learn the third.
- Platform/infrastructure: Experience with vector databases, cloud primitives (i.e., SQS, ECR, Kinesis), and container orchestration (Kubernetes, ECS).
- ML domain knowledge: Understanding of ML workflows, model training, evaluation, testing, dataset management, feature engineering, or research tooling.
- Product engineering: Ability to build clean, intuitive user experiences with product thinking and user empathy. TypeScript/React experience is a plus.
- Comfortable setting up and maintaining production infrastructure and services.
- Self-starter who can navigate ambiguity and make pragmatic technical decisions.
- Humility and open-mindedness; at Runway, we value learning from one another.
Working at Runway
Runway strives to recruit and retain exceptional talent from diverse backgrounds while ensuring pay equity. Our salary ranges are based on competitive market rates for our size, stage, and industry. Compensation includes salary, equity, and benefits.
We are committed to creating an inclusive space where employees can thrive. We encourage applications from all qualified individuals.
Key skills/competency
- Platform Engineering
- Infrastructure Management
- Cloud Primitives (AWS)
- Container Orchestration (Kubernetes, ECS)
- Vector Databases
- ML Workflows
- Research Tooling
- Backend Software Engineering
- TypeScript
- React
Skills & topics
- Member of Technical Staff
- Research Tooling
- Data Platform
- AI
- Machine Learning
- Backend Engineering
- Cloud Infrastructure
- Kubernetes
- AWS
- Software Engineer
How to get hired
- Tailor your resume: Highlight experience with backend systems, cloud infrastructure (AWS, Kubernetes), and ML tooling. Quantify achievements in platform ownership and optimization.
- Showcase your skills: Emphasize experience in at least two of platform/infrastructure, ML domain knowledge, or product engineering. Provide examples of building user-centric tools.
- Prepare for technical interviews: Expect questions on system design, database optimization, container orchestration, and ML workflows. Be ready to discuss your experience with AWS services and specific technologies.
- Demonstrate problem-solving: Highlight your ability to navigate ambiguity, make pragmatic decisions, and work collaboratively in a fast-paced, research-driven environment.
- Research Runway's mission: Understand their focus on AI, world models, and simulation to align your application with their vision.
Technical preparation
Deepen understanding of AWS services: SQS, Kinesis, ECR.,Practice Kubernetes and ECS container orchestration.,Study vector database concepts and optimization.,Review ML workflows and evaluation techniques.
Behavioral questions
Describe a time you owned a complex system.,How do you handle ambiguous technical challenges?,Share an experience building tools for others.,How do you prioritize user feedback?
Frequently asked questions
- What are the key responsibilities for the Member of Technical Staff role at Runway?
- The Member of Technical Staff at Runway will own the end-to-end development, infrastructure, and operations of the internal Exploratory Data Analysis (EDA) and evaluation platform. This includes optimizing query performance, building researcher-focused features, enabling cross-functional users, managing cloud infrastructure (ECS, Kubernetes), and providing user support.
- What technical skills are most important for this role at Runway?
- Key technical skills include strong backend software engineering experience, proficiency in platform/infrastructure (vector databases, cloud primitives like SQS, ECR, Kinesis, Kubernetes, ECS), ML domain knowledge (workflows, evaluation, tooling), and product engineering capabilities (TypeScript/React is a plus). Comfort with production infrastructure and services is essential.
- How does Runway use AI and what is the significance of world models?
- Runway is developing AI that simulates the world, believing that world models are critical for advancing AI beyond language models. These models are seen as key to solving complex challenges in areas like robotics, disease, and scientific discovery by learning from simulated experiences and trial-and-error.
- What is the expected experience level for this Member of Technical Staff position?
- The role typically requires 4+ years of industry experience in a backend-focused software engineering role. However, Runway is open to considering candidates with more or less experience based on their qualifications and demonstrated skills during the interview process.
- What can I expect in terms of the work environment and culture at Runway?
- Runway fosters a culture of creative, open-minded, caring, and ambitious individuals dedicated to building the impossible. They value humility, open-mindedness, and learning from one another, aiming to create a space where employees can bring their full selves to work.
- Is this role remote, hybrid, or on-site at Runway?
- While the job description doesn't explicitly state the work arrangement, the mention of specific office recognitions (BuiltIn NYC) suggests a potential focus on on-site or hybrid work in New York. Candidates should clarify the work arrangement during the application process.
- What are the career growth opportunities for a Member of Technical Staff at Runway?