Software Engineer (Contractor)

Position

The SW Engineer I contractor will support research and development initiatives focused on interpretability techniques for machine learning systems used to improve internal scientific and analytical tools. In this role, you will gain exposure to applied machine learning workflows, including model development, evaluation, interpretability research, and data pipeline optimization. This role will be responsible for building out standardized, general-purpose interpretability tooling that contributes to research-driven software solutions supporting scientific discovery.

This is a contract role, expected to last approximately 3 months, with an anticipated workload of 20 hours per week. 

About You

You are passionate about machine learning, computer vision, and solving complex data-driven challenges. You enjoy designing experiments, analyzing results, and building models that generate meaningful insights. You are analytical, curious, and comfortable working with image data, machine learning frameworks, and real-world datasets. You enjoy collaborating with engineers and scientists and are motivated to translate research ideas into practical tools and prototype solutions.

What You’ll Do

• Lead or substantially contribute to a research-focused project related to model interpretability and machine learning.
• Develop and evaluate machine learning approaches to improve model performance, robustness, and usability of internal tools.
• Support development and testing of model interpretability techniques to better understand and evaluate machine learning systems.
• Design and execute targeted experiments to evaluate model performance, training strategies, and data pipeline improvements.
• Prepare, clean, and analyze image-based and structured datasets to support machine learning model development.
• Evaluate model outputs using quantitative performance metrics and visualization techniques.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to translate research concepts into prototype solutions and internal tools.
• Document technical approaches, experimental results, and research findings.
• Present project outcomes and key learnings.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or graduate-level degree (completed or in progress) in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Electrical Engineering, or a related quantitative discipline.
• Coursework or hands-on experience in machine learning, statistics, and computer vision.
• Proficiency in Python and familiarity with machine learning frameworks such as PyTorch or TensorFlow.
• Experience with data analysis, experimental design, and machine learning model evaluation.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to interpret and communicate technical findings.
• Ability to work collaboratively in a team environment while managing independent research or development tasks.
• Must be available to work part-time (20 hours per week) during core business hours for the duration of the 3-month contract term.
• Exposure to model interpretability, explainability, or visualization techniques is preferred.

The expected hourly rate for this role is $56 to $68 depending on skills, competency, and the market demand for your expertise.