Assistant Professor Systems Science Jobs (NOW HIRING)

Description
The School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University invites applications from outstanding faculty candidates for tenure-track, research-track, systems-track, and teaching-track faculty positions across all departments of the School. Our broad portfolio spans a wide range of topics in computer science and the application of computers to real-world systems. For more information about the hiring priorities in a particular department, please visit a department site below:
Computer Science Department
Human-Computer Interaction Institute
Language Technologies Institute
Machine Learning Department
Ray & Stephanie Lane Computational Biology Department
Robotics Institute
Software and Societal Systems Department
Faculty Track Overviews
Tenure-track Faculty
Tenure-track faculty have a direct educational involvement with students inside and outside the classroom, including such activities as instruction, seminars, independent study, project supervision, advising undergraduate and graduate students, and supervision of graduate and postdoctoral research. Other educational activities include development of new or updated courses, curricula, degree programs and training programs; educational publications, textbooks and other instructional materials; editorial work on professional journals; and service on program committees. Tenure-track faculty also have an obligation to conduct research activities that lead to the production of new knowledge.
Every faculty member contributes by means of his or her expertise and the commitment of reasonable time and effort to the functioning and welfare of the university community, and of his or her academic unit in particular, through these activities.
Faculty in this category are subject to the tenure procedure outlined in the Faculty Handbook. Titles included are Assistant Professor, Associate Professor and Professor.
Research-track Faculty
Research-track faculty are fully supported from sources external to the university. Primary contributions most closely resemble tenure-track faculty positions in regard to responsibility in designing, carrying out and managing research, including service as principal investigator when appropriate. Research-track faculty are not required to teach, though many choose to do so, and are not subject to the tenure procedure. Performance is evaluated on a regular basis by department, school and university review committees.
Research-track faculty have the same rights and responsibilities as tenure-track faculty. In particular, research faculty may supervise PhD students and be principal investigators on research proposals. The titles are Assistant Research Professor, Associate Research Professor and Research Professor.
Systems Faculty
Systems faculty conduct and support research in basic and applied computer science, and advance the state of practice. The hallmark of these positions is creativity in the implementation of research ideas and problem solutions, and in the management of research programs. These positions, which range over computer science, computer architecture, communication, robotics, and related disciplines, are characterized by expertise, depth of knowledge, and sustained accomplishment in a particular specialization. Moreover, managerial positions are focal points of responsibility for formulating and achieving research goals that require the ability to lead and coordinate technical activities. All of these positions require persons of sufficiently high caliber and specific talent to justify the conferring of faculty status in order to attract and retain them, without requiring of them all the activities expected of regular faculty members.
Primary contributions in this track may be other than original research, and therefore teaching or research faculty positions are not appropriate; it confers the rights and responsibilities of leadership associated with regular and research faculty, including service as co-principal investigator and co-supervision of research students where appropriate. Faculty in this track are evaluated on a regular basis by department and school review committees. Systems faculty are classified as Special Faculty, and receive staff benefits. Titles include Systems Scientist, Senior Systems Scientist, and Principal Systems Scientist.
Teaching-track Faculty
Teaching track faculty are responsible for teaching courses and enjoy the flexibility and opportunity to engage in broader aspects of our educational programs. You should have a Ph.D. or more than ten years of industry experience, a background of demonstrated excellence and dedication to mentoring and teaching, and you must be prepared to teach large and small classes to undergraduate and master students. These include lecture courses, seminars, sponsored project courses, and in some cases, studio courses. You will also collaborate with the existing faculty to improve and revise the curriculum.
Qualifications
Candidates with a commitment toward building a scholarly community are particularly encouraged to apply. Our hiring committees thoroughly review the qualifications of every applicant, and are particularly enthusiastic about applicants whose background and experiences would make them unique among our faculty.
Application Instructions
Applications will be accepted beginning August 10, 2026. All materials must be submitted by December 16, 2026.
Our application process will ask you for: 1) a cover letter, 2) a detailed curriculum vitae, 3) a teaching statement (required for tenure and teaching track positions; optional for research and systems track positions), 4) a research statement (required for research, tenure, and systems track positions. optional for teaching track positions), 5) the names and email addresses of three or more individuals who have been asked to provide letters of reference, 6) copies of 3 representative papers, and 7) a broader impact statement
If you are interested in applying to a specific department, please note that in your cover letter.
For any questions regarding applications, please email scs-faculty-search@cs.cmu.edu