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Applied Research Jobs (NOW HIRING)

Salesforce, Inc.

Applied Research Engineer

Atlanta, GA · On-site

The Research Engineering team works directly alongside Research Scientists to bring models to life. This position is dedicated to a high-impact systems role, providing the best of both worlds: deep ...

Drata Inc

Senior Applied Research Engineer

San Francisco, CA · On-site

$123K - $169K/yr

Drata is seeking a Senior Applied Research Engineer to drive the quality and effectiveness of our AI systems through rigorous experimentation, evaluation, and applied research. This is a research ...

Salesforce, Inc.

Applied Research Engineer

Austin, TX · On-site

The Research Engineering team works directly alongside Research Scientists to bring models to life. This position is dedicated to a high-impact systems role, providing the best of both worlds: deep ...

Salesforce, Inc.

Applied Research Engineer

Chicago, IL · On-site

The Research Engineering team works directly alongside Research Scientists to bring models to life. This position is dedicated to a high-impact systems role, providing the best of both worlds: deep ...

AppLovin

Applied Research Scientist

Palo Alto, CA · On-site

$166K - $300K/yr

We are a group of research scientists and engineers building cutting edge technology at the intersection of machine learning and adtech. The core of our work is focused on: * Building ads delivery ...

AppLovin

Applied Research Scientist

Palo Alto, CA · On-site

We are a group of research scientists and engineers building cutting edge technology at the intersection of machine learning and adtech. The core of our work is focused on: * Building ads delivery ...

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How much do applied research jobs pay per hour?

As of Jun 30, 2026, the average hourly pay for applied research in the United States is $22.22, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $17.31 and $23.80 per hour, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as an Applied Researcher, and why are they important?

To thrive as an Applied Researcher, you need strong analytical abilities, a solid background in scientific methodology, and typically an advanced degree in a relevant field such as engineering, computer science, or social sciences. Proficiency with statistical analysis software, programming languages (like Python or R), and data visualization tools is often required. Creative problem-solving, effective communication, and the ability to collaborate across disciplines are essential soft skills. These competencies enable Applied Researchers to design impactful studies, extract actionable insights from data, and drive innovations that address real-world challenges.

What profession makes $400,000 a year?

In the field of applied research, senior roles such as research directors, chief scientists, or industry consultants in specialized areas can earn $400,000 or more annually, especially with extensive experience, advanced degrees, and leadership responsibilities. High compensation is often associated with roles in pharmaceuticals, technology, or government agencies that require advanced skills and significant project management.

What is an applied research career?

An applied research career involves conducting practical investigations to solve real-world problems, often within industries like healthcare, technology, or engineering. Professionals in this field use scientific methods, data analysis, and technical tools to develop solutions, often working in research institutions, corporations, or government agencies.

What is applied research?

Applied research is a type of research focused on solving practical problems and developing new technologies, products, or processes. Unlike basic research, which aims to expand fundamental knowledge, applied research is driven by real-world needs and aims to find solutions that can be directly implemented. Professionals in this field often work in industries such as healthcare, engineering, education, and technology to bridge the gap between theory and practice. Their work frequently results in innovations that improve efficiency, effectiveness, and overall quality of life.

How does an Applied Researcher typically collaborate with cross-functional teams to drive project outcomes?

Applied Researchers often work closely with product managers, engineers, and data analysts to ensure that research findings are effectively integrated into product development or business strategies. Collaboration usually involves regular meetings to align on project goals, sharing interim results, and iterating on experimental designs based on team feedback. Open communication and the ability to translate complex research insights into actionable recommendations are key to success in this role. This collaborative approach helps ensure that research has a tangible impact and supports organizational objectives.

What job makes $10,000 a month without a degree?

In applied research roles, high-paying positions can sometimes reach $10,000 per month, especially for experienced professionals with specialized skills in data analysis, programming, or scientific methods. These roles often require strong technical expertise, problem-solving abilities, and may involve working in industries like technology, pharmaceuticals, or finance, but typically do not require a formal degree if the candidate has relevant experience and a strong portfolio.

What does an applied researcher do?

An applied researcher conducts practical investigations to solve real-world problems by collecting and analyzing data, often using scientific methods. They develop solutions, evaluate their effectiveness, and may use tools like statistical software or programming languages, working in industries such as healthcare, technology, or social sciences.

What is the difference between Applied Research vs Data Analyst?

AspectApplied ResearchData Analyst
Required CredentialsMaster's or PhD in relevant fields (e.g., science, engineering)Bachelor's or Master's in data science, statistics, or related fields
Work EnvironmentResearch labs, universities, R&D departmentsBusiness, finance, healthcare, tech companies
Employer & Industry UsageAcademic, government, private research firmsCorporate sectors, consulting firms, tech companies
Common Search & Comparison IntentUnderstanding research roles, academic careersData analysis, business insights, reporting

Applied Research involves developing new knowledge or solutions through scientific methods, often in academic or research settings. Data Analysts focus on interpreting existing data to inform business decisions, typically within corporate environments. While both roles require analytical skills, Applied Research emphasizes experimental design and innovation, whereas Data Analysts concentrate on data interpretation and reporting.

More about Applied Research jobs
What are the most commonly searched types of Applied Research jobs? The most popular types of Applied Research jobs are:
What states have the most Applied Research jobs? States with the most job openings for Applied Research jobs include:
What job categories do people searching Applied Research jobs look for? The top searched job categories for Applied Research jobs are:
Applied Research jobs near you
Staff Software Engineer, Applied Research

Staff Software Engineer, Applied Research

DigitalOcean

Seattle, WA • Hybrid

$216K - $271K/yr

Other

Posted 6 days ago

Job description

Building AI agents that can remember a conversation is the easy part. Building agents that maintain useful, accurate, and trustworthy memory across long-running workflows is one of the hardest open problems in production AI today.

That's what this team works on. As a Staff AI/ML Engineer on our Applied Research team, you'll own the technical direction for agent memory in DigitalOcean's agentic systems: how agents store context, retrieve relevant information, update beliefs, personalize experiences, and reason over past interactions.

This is a senior IC role with broad technical scope. You'll set direction, run experiments at scale, and work cross-functionally with product managers, scientists, applied researchers, engineers, and designers to move memory research from prototype to shipped product capability.

What You'll Be Doing

Own the agent memory roadmap

  • Define and execute the applied research agenda for memory-enabled agentic AI, including long-term context, retrieval, personalization, and state management.
  • Translate user needs, product signals, and research findings into practical memory architectures that improve real-world workflows.
  • Stay close to the research frontier on agent memory, retrieval systems, multimodal recall, belief revision, and long-running agents.

Build production memory systems

  • Design and build memory architectures for agentic AI, including episodic memory, semantic memory, user context, and long-term recall.
  • Build reliable systems that support memory decay, fact grounding, belief updates, context compaction, and retrieval across sessions.
  • Develop evaluation frameworks that measure memory quality, groundedness, reasoning reliability, personalization quality, and user outcomes.

Provide technical leadership

  • Set technical direction across architecture, modeling decisions, experimentation strategy, and production readiness - without requiring direct management authority.
  • Partner closely with product, engineering, design, science, and research teams to move work from ambiguous research ideas to shipped capabilities.
  • Communicate complex AI systems clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
What You'll Add to DigitalOcean

We're looking for engineers who have shipped real AI systems - not just prototyped them. You likely bring:

  • 8+ years of experience building production AI/ML systems, LLM-powered products, agentic workflows, retrieval systems, personalization systems, or applied research systems at scale.
  • Hands-on experience with memory and retrieval systems such as embeddings, semantic search, knowledge graphs, RAG, personalization, or long-term user context.
  • Strong understanding of agentic AI: memory, planning, tool use, state management, instruction following, self-correction, and action execution.
  • Strong software engineering in Python and at least one production systems language.
  • The judgment to balance research quality, product impact, latency, reliability, cost, and maintainability - and communicate those tradeoffs clearly
Preferred Qualifications

Strong signal

  • Experience building memory, retrieval, personalization, or long-context systems in production.
  • Experience with agent evaluation, offline/online experiments, feedback loops, or user outcome measurement.
  • Prior Staff, Senior Staff, Tech Lead, or equivalent senior IC experience.

Nice to have

  • Master's or PhD in CS, ML, AI, or a related field - or equivalent depth demonstrated through industry work.
  • Experience with production ML infrastructure: model serving, observability, data pipelines, feature stores, or experimentation platforms.
  • Research contributions via peer-reviewed publications, patents, open-source work, or demonstrated applied research impact in AI agents, memory systems, retrieval, personalization, or applied ML.
Compensation Range: 
  • $216,800 - $271,000

*This is a hybrid role

JR: 2026-7946

#LI-Hybrid

Apply