AI Research Engineer

TRM Labs Inc.

Job Overview

Location

San Francisco, CA

Job Type

Full-time

Full Job Description

📋 Description

• As an AI Research Engineer at TRM Labs, you will play a pivotal role in advancing the company’s mission to build a safer world by developing cutting-edge AI systems that detect and disrupt crypto-related fraud and financial crime. Your work will directly impact the effectiveness of TRM’s blockchain intelligence platform, which is trusted by law enforcement, national security agencies, and financial institutions globally.
• You will design, build, and own a production-grade evaluation system that drives measurable improvements in model accuracy and latency, ensuring that AI models used for threat detection are both highly performant and reliable in real-world deployments.
• You will lead experimentation, fine-tuning, and feedback-based evaluation loops for continuous model optimization, applying advanced ML Ops practices to iterate rapidly and maintain model relevance in an evolving threat landscape.
• You will advance the orchestration of AI/ML systems, ensuring scalable, resilient, and high-impact deployments across TRM’s distributed infrastructure, enabling seamless integration of models into production pipelines that serve critical national security and financial crime prevention use cases.
• You will elevate technical standards through engineering craftsmanship, mentorship, and leadership as a senior individual contributor, fostering a culture of excellence by setting benchmarks for code quality, system design, and collaborative problem-solving within the AI Engineering team.
• You will collaborate closely with cross-functional partners including data scientists, software engineers, and security analysts to align AI initiatives with mission-critical objectives, translating complex analytical needs into robust, production-ready solutions.
• You will operate within a high-velocity, high-ownership culture where priorities shift rapidly based on experimentation and impact, requiring comfort with ambiguity, adaptability, and a bias toward action — where solutions that might take months elsewhere are shipped in days.
• You will contribute to a globally distributed team that values inclusivity, sociability, and strong communication, with core collaboration hours between 7am–12pm PST and a minimum 4-hour daily overlap required for all members regardless of location.
• You will participate in lightweight on-call responsibilities (Analytics on-call: <1 hour/day monthly; Data Science on-call: 1–2 hours/day every 3 months) to ensure system reliability without compromising sustainable work practices.
• You will grow your expertise in applying AI fluently — using AI not just to automate tasks but to accelerate workflows, structure complex problems, improve output quality, and increase leverage — a baseline expectation at TRM where top performers are expected to be in the top 10% of AI applicators in their function.
• You will embody TRM’s leadership principles: as an Impact-Oriented Trailblazer moving with speed and adaptability; a Master Craftsperson balancing speed with high standards and end-to-end ownership; and an Inspiring Colleague who brings clarity, humility, and a one-team mindset to strengthen the team through feedback and collaboration.

🎯 Requirements

• Advanced programming expertise in Python and SQL, with strong system design skills for building scalable, production-grade AI evaluation and orchestration systems.
• Deep experience deploying machine learning and deep learning models in production environments, with strong preference for hands-on experience with LLMs and generative AI technologies.
• Strong foundation in experimentation frameworks, evaluation metrics, and ML Ops practices, including A/B testing, model monitoring, and continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD) for AI systems.
• Proven ability to own critical systems end-to-end, from conception through deployment and monitoring, while collaborating effectively with cross-functional partners in fast-moving, high-stakes environments.
• Demonstrated ability to thrive in ambiguous, high-velocity settings where priorities evolve rapidly, requiring adaptability, ownership, and a solutions-oriented mindset.
• Excellent communication, leadership, and teamwork skills, with a positive, sociable demeanor that fosters inclusivity and psychological safety in a globally distributed team.

🏖️ Benefits

• Opportunity to work on mission-driven AI systems that directly contribute to national security, financial crime prevention, and global safety — work that matters and has real-world impact.
• High-velocity, high-ownership culture where innovation is rewarded and impact is measured in days, not months, enabling rapid learning and career acceleration.
• Access to cutting-edge AI/ML infrastructure and resources, including opportunities to work with state-of-the-art LLMs and generative AI models in production.
• Globally distributed team with flexible work arrangements, core collaboration hours (7am–12pm PST), and a minimum 4-hour daily overlap requirement to support work-life balance across timezones.
• Lightweight on-call responsibilities (Analytics: <1 hr/day monthly; Data Science: 1–2 hrs/day every 3 months) designed to ensure reliability without burnout.
• Strong emphasis on AI fluency as a growth opportunity — you’ll be expected and supported to use AI to accelerate your craft, solve problems creatively, and increase your leverage as a top 10% performer in your function.
• Leadership development through TRM’s three core principles: Impact-Oriented Trailblazer, Master Craftsperson, and Inspiring Colleague, fostering both technical and interpersonal growth.
• Backed by $220M in Series C funding from top-tier investors including Blockchain Capital, Goldman Sachs, Bessemer, Y Combinator, and Thoma Bravo, ensuring stability and long-term mission alignment.
• Commitment to reasonable accommodations for applicants with disabilities, with dedicated request forms available during the application process.

Skills & Technologies

Python

Onsite

Degree Required

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TRM Labs Inc.

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About TRM Labs Inc.

TRM Labs Inc. is a San Francisco-based blockchain intelligence company founded in 2018. It provides compliance, risk management, and investigative tools for cryptocurrency and digital assets, serving financial institutions, law-enforcement agencies, and crypto businesses. The platform analyzes on-chain data to detect fraud, money laundering, and sanctions violations, helping clients meet regulatory requirements across jurisdictions. Its suite includes real-time transaction monitoring, case management, and threat intelligence, leveraging machine-learning models to trace funds across multiple blockchains. TRM Labs has raised funding from investors including Bessemer Venture Partners and PayPal Ventures.

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