Senior ML Applications Engineer

About Phaidra

Phaidra is building the future of industrial automation.

The world today is filled with static, monolithic infrastructure. Factories, power plants, buildings, etc. operate the same they’ve operated for decades — because the controls programming is hard-coded. Thousands of lines of rules and heuristics that define how the machines interact with each other. The result of all this hard-coding is that facilities are frozen in time, unable to adapt to their environment while their performance slowly degrades.

Phaidra creates AI-powered control systems for the industrial sector, enabling industrial facilities to automatically learn and improve over time. Specifically:

• We use reinforcement learning algorithms to provide this intelligence, converting raw sensor data into high-value actions and decisions.
• We focus on industrial applications, which tend to be well-sensorized with measurable KPIs — perfect for reinforcement learning.
• We enable domain experts (our users) to configure the AI control systems (i.e. agents) without writing code. They define what they want their AI agents to do, and we do it for them.

Our team has a track record of applying AI to some of the toughest problems. From achieving superhuman performance with DeepMind’s AlphaGo, to reducing the energy required to cool Google’s Data Centers by 40%, we deeply understand AI and how to apply it in production for massive impact.

Phaidra’s ability to achieve its mission is determined by our ability to work together — as defined by our core values: Transparency, Collaboration, Operational Excellence, Ownership, and Empathy. We seek individuals who embody these values, as they are instrumental in ensuring our team consistently delivers excellence and fosters an engaging and supportive culture

Phaidra is based in the USA but 100% remote; we do not have a physical office. We hire employees internationally with the help of our partner, OysterHR. Our team is currently located throughout the USA, Canada, UK, Norway, Italy, Sweden, Spain, Portugal, Japan, Singapore, and India.

*We are seeking a team member located within one of the following areas: United Kingdom, Singapore, Ireland, Norway, Spain, Italy, or Portugal.

Responsibilities

• Wear different hats: Software Engineer, Controls Engineer, Data scientist, ML engineer, Solutions Engineer.
• Deeply understand the capabilities and tools offered by Phaidra’s internal platform and how to utilize them to best serve our customers.
• Work with Solutions Engineers and the Research team to build the right solutions for new customer applications.
• Onboard and maintain agents that control the industrial facilities of our customers. By deeply understanding the behavior of these agents and the industrial facilities they control. You will continuously be looking for ways to improve performance, working with teams across Phaidra to make that a reality.
• Prototype tooling to make onboarding and maintaining agents simpler and more scalable, then work with our engineering and product teams to productionize impactful tools.
• Maintain clear and concise documentation of your research, communications, and actions.

What we’re looking for

• 4+ years of progressive relevant work experience
• Previous experience as a Software Engineer, Data Scientist or Machine Learning Engineer in an industrial controls or process engineering environment.
• Understanding of ML concepts and ability to reason about systems with non-deterministic components.
• Understanding of industrial processing systems, fluid dynamics, heat transfer, etc.
• Fluency in a high level programming language, preferably Python.
• Natural curiosity; desire to learn, go deep and problem-solve in new domains.
• Those excited to see the real world impact of their work; those who celebrate the success of their customers as their own.
• Exceptional organizational and communications skills.
• Alignment with Phaidra’s values: transparency, collaboration, operational excellence, ownership, empathy.

Bonus points

• Knowledge of chiller plant fundamentals, configurations, and sequence of operations.
• Previous experience on a customer adjacent role.
• Understanding of industrial heating and cooling processes and their applications within manufacturing or data center environments.
• Interest in computer science topics like logic programming or constrained optimization.

Onboarding

In your first 30 days…

• You will be immersed in an onboarding program that introduces you to Phaidra, our product and our remote working norms. Your onboarding buddy will be there every step of the way.
• You will read various parts of our handbook and familiarize yourself with the documentation culture at Phaidra.
• You will set up your development environment and start working on an onboarding exercise that will introduce you to various parts of our code base.
• You will learn about various team standards and development & release processes.
• You will start to learn about our system architecture and infrastructure.
• You will familiarize yourself with the tools used to manage customer onboarding and operations.

By your first 60 days…

• You will have a solid understanding of what Phaidra does and how we do it.
• You will have met with team members across Phaidra and started building relationships that will help you be successful at your job.
• You will have assisted in the resolution of agent issues, improving the experience of our customers.
• You will have learned how to use our case management, customer onboarding and operations tools.

By your first 90 days…

• You will have been fully integrated in the team and with team members across the company.
• You will have acquired a more in-depth understanding of our system architecture and infrastructure.
• You will have become an expert with our tooling.
• You will start to manage and own agent deployments for a customer, seeing it control large industrial facilities.
• You will have started to contribute to knowledge sharing throughout Phaidra.
• You will have delighted customers!

General Interview Process

All of our interviews are held via Google Meet, and an active camera connection is required.

1. Initial screening interview with a People Operations team member (30 minutes)
2. Meeting with the Hiring Manager (45 minutes)
3. Technical Software Engineering Interview (45 minutes)
4. Technical Controls/Process Engineering Interview (45 minutes)
5. Culture fit interview with Phaidra’s co-founders (30 minutes)

Base Salary

• United Kingdom Residents: £68,000- £85,000/year
• Salary ranges for other countries will vary based on the market rate for the location.

This position will also include equity.

These are best faith estimates of the base salary range for this position. Multiple factors such as experience, education, level, and location are taken into account when determining compensation.

Benefits & Perks

• Fast-paced and team-oriented environment where you will be instrumental in the direction of the company.
• Phaidra is a 100% remote company with a digital nomad policy.
• Competitive compensation & equity.
• Outsized responsibilities & professional development.
• Training is foundational; functional, customer immersion, and development training.
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance (exact benefits vary by region).
• Unlimited paid time off, with a minimum of 20 days off per year requirement.
• Paid parental leave (exact benefits vary by region).
• Home office setup allowance, coworking space stipend, and company MacBook.

*Please note that Phaidra’s benefits and perks listed above do not apply to temporary employees such as interns.

On being Remote

We are thoughtful about remote collaboration. We look to the pioneers – like Gitlab – for inspiration and best practices to create a stellar remote work environment. We have a documentation-first culture and actively practice asynchronous communication in everything we do. Our team stays connected through tools like Slack and video chat. Most teams meet daily, and we have dedicated all-hands meetings weekly to build strong relationships. We hold virtual team building events once per quarter – and even hold virtual socials to watch rocket launches! We have had all-company summits in locations like Seattle, Athens, Goa, and Barcelona.

Equal Opportunity Employment

Phaidra is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Phaidra is governed on the basis of merit, competence, and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability, or any other legally protected status. We welcome diversity and strive to maintain an inclusive environment for all employees. If you need assistance with completing the application process, please contact us at [email protected].

E-Verify Notice

Phaidra participates in E-Verify, an employment authorization database provided through the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Social Security Administration (SSA). As required by law, we will provide the SSA and, if necessary, the DHS, with information from each new employee’s Form I-9 to confirm work authorization for those residing in the United States.

Additional information about E-Verify can be found here.

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WE DO NOT ACCEPT APPLICATIONS FROM RECRUITERS.