Senior Research Engineer, Output
$155-195k
More information about location
Creative software platform for music makers
Open for applications
Creative software platform for music makers
21-100 employees
Open for applications
$155-195k
More information about location
21-100 employees
Company mission
To give music producers all the tools they need to create amazing new music, sounds, and reach new inspiration.
Role
Who you are
- The ideal candidate will be comfortable working in a fast-paced start-up environment working closely with some of the most creative minds in music tech
- 5+ years experience in applied research in AI/ML, or equivalent academic experience
- MS or PhD in CS, ML, or equivalent
- Interest and passion in music tech
- High agency and strong problem-solving skills
- Propensity to thrive and adapt in a startup environment
- Experience developing prototypes and tests to communicate and evaluate new product features based on AI/ML innovations
- Experience with specific ML tools, languages and frameworks
- Python, Numpy, Pytorch, Tensorflow, Pandas, etc
- Training, evaluating, and fine-tuning open source models
- Familiarity with modern ML models and techniques such as transformers, LLMs, diffusion, and contrastive learning
- Understanding of audio signal processing fundamentals such as spectrograms, transforms, filtering, compression, windowing, etc
- Knowledge of music theory concepts such as pitch, keys, scales, chords, tempo/rhythm/BPM, etc
- Experiment Tracking Frameworks (Neptune, W&B, dora, etc)
- Deployment of models for inference to the cloud (GCP, Replicate, Lambda Labs, etc.) and/or to desktop/mobile platforms (ONNX, C++)
- GCP Vertex or similar
- Experience with digital audio workstation software and AI-based music production workflows in music production a strong plus
What the job involves
- Our R&D team is growing, and we’re looking for a Senior Research Engineer to join us in creating innovative new AI-based music creation products
- In this role you will help us rapidly prototype new ideas applying the latest technologies – developing, training, refining, and deploying ML-based models so they can be used for exciting new features that support rich new music experiences for our users
- This role will work on prototyping features in areas including search, audio analysis, generative audio, and more
- We’re looking for someone who is intrinsically motivated, able to keep up with all the latest AI tech, detail-oriented, and energized to contribute to the future of our R&D roadmap
- Model Development & Prototyping
- Develop, build, and test ML models with a small R&D team to inspire and empower musical creativity
- Determine the best approach and application of ML technology for a given problem space
- Apply modern ML frameworks and tools efficiently to these problems
- Collaboration and communication
- Participate in discussions with stakeholders and executives to understand, develop, and refine requirements and solution space
- Work with software engineers, content specialists, quality assurance, and other team members to ensure that ML models are developed with production environments in mind and are easy to deploy and maintain
- Optimization and iteration
- Data analysis and measuring model performance in development and in production
- Continuously optimize ML models to improve performance, accuracy, and cost
- Tuning of hyperparameters, curating datasets for fine-tuning, optimizing algorithms
- Investigating alternative approaches where necessary
- Stay up-to-date with current tools, techniques, and state-of-the-art and regularly shares these with team members
- Represent Output’s R&D efforts to the wider research and technical communities online and in-person
Our take
Output creates software for musicians. The platform aims to boost musical creativity and innovation by providing users with an endless range of instruments and sound manipulation tools. The company claims to be behind music created by and for famous names including Rihanna, Drake, Justin Timberlake, and Kendrick Lamar.
Founded by music composer Gregg Lehrman, the brand started by offering basic software for music makers working outside of a studio. The service has seen significant uptake from hobbyists and music enthusiasts, with a large portion of the company's income coming from Arcade, a database of music samples available for a monthly subscription fee.
Other providers such as Splice and Noiz exist and offer access to a library of music samples, but Output has now taken a more holistic approach. What started as software has now expanded into a suite of products, including instruments and even customised furniture. An AI music "co-producer" to spark creativity was launched in 2024, indicating Output's continued push for innovation.
Kirsty
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
-20% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Funding (1 round)
Oct 2020
$45m
SERIES A
Total funding: $45m
Company benefits
- We have embraced the “work from anywhere revolution” and will continue to hire all roles remotely unless otherwise stated
- Our Los Angeles office will remain open to those needing a space or looking for a place to collaborate with other teams
- Our culture has always valued our employee’s work-life balance and we offer 5 weeks of PTO
- Excellent health care
- Community of music enthusiasts- with access to our music studios (once it is safe to return)
Company HQ
Chinatown, Los Angeles, CA
Leadership
Gregg Lehrman
(CEO)Having studied at Cornell, they worked as an Assistant to Hans Zimmer and a Creative Director of Silkscreen Music. They spent 2 years as Executive Producer of Universal Music Publishing Group before founding Output in November 2013.
Salary benchmarks
We don't have enough data yet to provide salary benchmarks for this role.
Submit your salary to help other candidates with crowdsourced salary estimates.
Share this job