Alignment Research Manager
AE Studio (AE.STUDIO) is a bootstrapped software studio founded in 2016 that combines frontier AI alignment research with high-stakes production AI engineering. The team of 150 senior professionals builds AI-native products, custom ML models, and internal AI systems for enterprise, PE/portfolio, mid-market, and startup clients across industries like aviation, edtech, medical devices, and manufacturing.
Projects
About AE Studio
AE Studio operates as an applied AI and software engineering firm that ships production AI systems for clients while also conducting frontier alignment research in collaboration with organizations like DARPA and Anthropic. Bootstrapped since 2016 with no outside investors, the company emphasizes independence that allows it to fund alignment research and select projects it believes in. Its client work spans building AI-native products, custom machine learning models, agentic automations, evals and red-teaming, observability tooling, and knowledge graphs, delivered by senior pods embedded directly with client teams. Notable projects include pricing and marketing AI for Azul Airlines, an AI-native learning platform for Alpha School, production software for Blackrock Neurotech's brain-computer interface, and AI document ingestion automation for Global Shop Solutions. The company serves a range of clients including large enterprises navigating procurement and architecture review, private equity portfolios seeking value creation, mid-market businesses focused on operations and margins, and startups needing founder-level velocity.
Skills
About the Role
You will be the person who makes the research acceleration model actually run. You will own projects end to end, turning abstract research ideas into clear roadmaps, keeping technical teams unblocked and moving fast, and making sure progress is visible to leadership, collaborators, and funders. You'll work on projects that usually involve several stakeholders, grants, or research partners, and some are internal research. You'll break down ambiguity, define milestones, and focus the team on what matters. You'll also dive in when something needs to be tested, validated, or unblocked. You'll identify dead ends early and keep work pointed at the highest-upside directions. You could eventually lead a Skunkworks spinout, a new research track, or an internal product.
Requirements
- Working knowledge of AI and ML systems, enough to track technical complexity and ask the right questions
- Experience managing complex technical projects, including research
- Ability to structure execution across ambiguous, high-stakes efforts
- Ability to translate fluently between engineers, researchers, clients, and funders
- Takes initiative without waiting for permission and owns results end to end
- Cares about AI alignment and believes meaningful progress on the problem is possible
- Eager to use AI tools and automate everything possible
- Comfortable in a fast-paced, startup-like environment
Responsibilities
- Own research projects end to end
- Turn abstract research ideas into clear roadmaps
- Keep technical teams unblocked and moving fast
- Report progress to leadership, collaborators, and funders
- Break down ambiguity and define milestones
- Focus the team on what matters
- Test, validate, or unblock work as needed
- Identify dead ends early
- Keep work pointed at the highest-upside directions
- Potentially lead a Skunkworks spinout, new research track, or internal product
Benefits
- Remote-first with flexible schedules
- Health insurance
- Free lunches at the office
- Weekly knowledge-sharing talks
- Annual team retreat
- Regular performance-based raises
- Diversified employee equity program