Research Engineer

About Weaviate

Weaviate is an AI startup with open source and creativity at its core. Our AI-native vector database uses machine learning to create meaningful insights from unstructured data in a completely new way. Named one of Forbes’ Top 50 AI startups, and with over a million monthly downloads, Weaviate is quickly growing in popularity with developers and enterprises alike.

Our team members work remotely across the globe with the flexibility to work from anywhere and at any time. Our people experience this as a massive benefit! Operating with a strong sense of ownership and collaboration, our teams prioritize results while empowering each individual to do their best work.

About the role

As a Research Engineer at Weaviate, you’ll work as part of the Applied Research team to design, deliver, and optimize the future of vector indexing in Weaviate. You will implement new algorithms, research new approaches, and play a crucial role in shaping the future of vector indexing at Weaviate.

This is what you'll be doing

• Work closely with team members to design and implement new algorithms and optimize existing vector index implementations inside Weaviate.
• Improve the performance and efficiency of Weaviate and reduce operating costs.
• Collaborate with our team to make informed decisions and track performance and cost optimization improvements over time.
• Deliver improvements in an iterative fashion, with a strong focus on quality.
• Be a great team player by collaborating with your peers, learning from others, and sharing your knowledge.

What we are looking for

• Experience researching and/or implementing approximate nearest neighbor (ANN) algorithms such as HNSW, Vamana, IVF, and quantization techniques.
• Software engineering experience with a focus on high-performance computing.
• Experience with Go or willingness to learn the intricacies of high-performance Golang. If you are unfamiliar with Go, it’s important to have experience with C/C++ or Rust or a comparable language.
• Quick learner, excited to dive into new topics.
• You are aligned with our company values.

Ideal candidates will also possess

• Strong skills in algorithmic reasoning, and a good grasp of probability and statistics.
• Familiarity with optimization techniques such as reducing memory allocations, SIMD, optimizing for CPU cache locality, and other low-level concepts.
• Understanding of how databases work internally and familiarity with common data structures (B-Trees, LSM Trees) and techniques.

What we offer

• 100% remote with flexible work hours.
• Competitive compensation, including paid time off.
• Budget available to spend on going to conferences, co-working space, home office equipment, etc.
• Work with very experienced and fun team members.
• An atmosphere that encourages learning and personal growth, and that gives you lots of freedom, flexibility, and responsibilities.

Are you interested?

Have a look at this page to learn what you can expect from our interview process. Be aware that conducting a background check is part of our onboarding.

If you are interested in Weaviate and this role, you can apply via the ‘apply now!’ button below. All of our communication will be done in response to your application. If you have any questions feel free to reach out to our recruiter via the application. In this way, we ensure that our people can focus on doing their best work.