Research Scientist - AI Incubation

What you can expect

Zoom's AI Incubation team is seeking a Research Scientist to contribute to the next wave of LLM post‑training, reinforcement learning, and federated AI innovation. You will join a world‑class group of PhDs and applied scientists focused on pushing the boundaries of model alignment, reasoning, and agentic intelligence.

As a Research Scientist, you will advance Zoom's applied AI research, working with cutting‑edge LLM post‑training, RLHF/DPO/RLAIF, federated AI, and multimodal intelligence to deliver breakthroughs that redefine human‑AI collaboration. You will participate in incubation efforts that transform bold research ideas into scalable, production‑ready systems powering the next generation of Zoom AI Companion.

The AI Incubation team is a high‑impact applied research group that has built one of the best‑performing federated AI systems in the industry. The team operates at the frontier of LLM post‑training, reinforcement learning for agentic AI, multimodal understanding, federated AI, and AI evaluation.

Zoom's federated AI architecture—spanning Anthropic, OpenAI, and Google models—enables privacy‑preserving, edge‑to‑cloud learning that adapts to user context while maintaining enterprise‑grade governance. The Incubation team plays a central role in advancing this federated AI leadership, developing new methods for distributed model optimization, personalized prefix learning, and secure collaboration.

• Conduct frontier research in LLM post‑training, reinforcement learning, and federated AI to achieve state‑of‑the‑art reasoning, personalization, and reliability.
• Develop and implement evaluation and benchmarking frameworks for model performance, safety, and user experience across distributed environments.
• Contribute to model architectures, fine‑tuning strategies, and reinforcement learning pipelines across Zoom's federated AI ecosystem.
• Partner with product and infra teams to translate research prototypes into scalable, production‑grade AI systems that leverage edge and cloud collaboration.
• Participate in a culture of scientific rigor, creativity, and rapid experimentation.
• Explore emerging AI paradigms—from agentic reasoning and multimodal fusion to self‑improving federated systems—to continuously advance Zoom's AI frontier.

• Have a PhD or advanced degree in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, or a related field.
• Demonstrate proven expertise in LLM post‑training, RLHF/DPO/PPO, federated learning, or reinforcement learning for reasoning and alignment.
• Have deep understanding of large‑scale distributed training systems and experience with PyTorch, Transformers, Deep Speed, or CUDA.
• Hold a publication or open‑source record demonstrating innovation in LLM optimization, federated AI, or agentic intelligence.
• Demonstrate passion for applied AI research that bridges scientific discovery and real‑world impact.
• Have experience implementing AI research concepts and translating them into practical applications.

Minimum: $

Maximum: $

In addition to the base salary and/or OTE, Zoom follows a total direct compensation philosophy that includes base salary, bonus, and equity value. Starting pay will be based on qualifications and experience. Compensation may vary by location.

Our structured hybrid approach is centered around our offices and remote work environments. The work style of each role—Hybrid, Remote, or In‑Person—is indicated in the posting.

Our benefits program offers a variety of perks, benefits, and options to support employees' physical, mental, emotional, and financial health, work‑life balance, and community engagement.

At Zoom, we believe great work happens when people feel supported and empowered. We’re committed to fair hiring practices that evaluate each candidate based on skills, experience, and potential. If you require an accommodation during the hiring process, let us know—we’re here to support you at every step.

We welcome people of different backgrounds, experiences, abilities, and perspectives, including qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records and any qualified applicants requiring reasonable accommodations in accordance with the law.

If you need assistance navigating the interview process due to a medical disability, please submit an Accommodations Request Form; someone from our team will reach out soon.