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Senior Reinforcement Learning Jobs (NOW HIRING)

1872 Consulting

Senior ML Engineer

San Francisco, CA · On-site

$123K - $169K/yr

... Senior ML Engineer to enhance their machine learning capabilities. The role involves training ... Preferred : • Experience with reinforcement learning, model-based planning, and/or control theory ...

Elevance Health

Research Scientist Senior

Indianapolis, IN · On-site

$94K - $120K/yr

Research Scientist Senior Research Scientist Senior This role requires associates to be in-office ... Develops scalable machine learning and reinforcement learning systems that improve healthcare ...

Unitytech

Senior Machine Learning Engineer

Mountain View, CA · On-site +1

$123K - $169K/yr

We're looking for a Senior Machine Learning Engineer to lead the development of these foundational ... Lead high-impact initiatives, including hierarchical reinforcement learning for scalable behaviors ...

YO AI Labs

Machine Learning Engineer - Remote

Boston, MA · Remote

$80 - $120/hr

Remote Job Summary We are seeking experienced Senior Software Engineers to support an AI training project by creating reinforcement learning environments that evaluate AI models on complex software ...

YO AI Labs

Machine Learning Engineer - Remote

Boston, MA · Remote

$80 - $120/hr

Remote Job Summary We are seeking experienced Senior Software Engineers to support an AI training project by creating reinforcement learning environments that evaluate AI models on complex software ...

YO AI Labs

Machine Learning Engineer - Remote

Austin, TX · Remote

$80 - $120/hr

Remote Job Summary We are seeking experienced Senior Software Engineers to support an AI training project by creating reinforcement learning environments that evaluate AI models on complex software ...

Elevance Health

Research Scientist Senior

Chicago, IL · On-site +1

$101K - $129K/yr

Research Scientist Senior Research Scientist Senior This role requires associates to be in-office ... Develops scalable machine learning and reinforcement learning systems that improve healthcare ...

YO AI Labs

Machine Learning Engineer - Remote

Seattle, WA · Remote

$80 - $120/hr

Remote Job Summary We are seeking experienced Senior Software Engineers to support an AI training project by creating reinforcement learning environments that evaluate AI models on complex software ...

YO AI Labs

Machine Learning Engineer - Remote

Seattle, WA · Remote

$80 - $120/hr

Remote Job Summary We are seeking experienced Senior Software Engineers to support an AI training project by creating reinforcement learning environments that evaluate AI models on complex software ...

YO AI Labs

Machine Learning Engineer - Remote

San Jose, CA · Remote

$80 - $120/hr

Remote Job Summary We are seeking experienced Senior Software Engineers to support an AI training project by creating reinforcement learning environments that evaluate AI models on complex software ...

Roku

Senior Machine Learning Engineer, Search

San Jose, CA · On-site

$361K - $510K/yr

Our systems leverage modern ML and GenAI techniques, including LLMs, reinforcement learning, multi ... About the Role We are looking for a Senior Machine Learning Tech Lead to drive ranking and ...

YO AI Labs

Machine Learning Engineer - Remote

Miami, FL · Remote

$80 - $120/hr

Remote Job Summary We are seeking experienced Senior Software Engineers to support an AI training project by creating reinforcement learning environments that evaluate AI models on complex software ...

Elevance Health

Research Scientist Senior

Indianapolis, IN · On-site +1

$94K - $120K/yr

Research Scientist Senior Research Scientist Senior This role requires associates to be in-office ... Develops scalable machine learning and reinforcement learning systems that improve healthcare ...

YO AI Labs

Machine Learning Engineer - Remote

Phoenix, AZ · Remote

$80 - $120/hr

Remote Job Summary We are seeking experienced Senior Software Engineers to support an AI training project by creating reinforcement learning environments that evaluate AI models on complex software ...

Elevance Health

Research Scientist Senior

Atlanta, GA · On-site +1

$94K - $120K/yr

Research Scientist Senior Research Scientist Senior This role requires associates to be in-office ... Develops scalable machine learning and reinforcement learning systems that improve healthcare ...

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Senior Reinforcement Learning information

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$25K

$80.3K

$163.5K

How much do senior reinforcement learning jobs pay per year?

As of Sep 2, 2026, the average yearly pay for senior reinforcement learning in the United States is $80,287.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $41,500.00 and $103,000.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What does a senior reinforcement learning engineer do?

A Senior Reinforcement Learning Engineer designs, develops, and implements advanced machine learning algorithms that enable systems to learn optimal behaviors through trial and error. They work on complex problems such as robotics, game AI, recommendation systems, and automated decision-making. In addition to coding and model development, they often lead research initiatives, collaborate with cross-functional teams, and mentor junior engineers. Their role requires deep knowledge of reinforcement learning theory, practical experience with machine learning frameworks, and strong programming skills.

What are some common challenges faced by senior reinforcement learning professionals when deploying models in real-world environments?

Senior Reinforcement Learning professionals often encounter challenges such as ensuring model robustness when transferring algorithms from simulated to real-world environments, handling limited or noisy data, and managing the computational demands of training complex models. Additionally, safety and interpretability are critical, as real-world deployments can have significant impacts if models behave unpredictably. Close collaboration with domain experts and engineering teams is essential to address these challenges and ensure successful, scalable deployments.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a senior reinforcement learning engineer, and why are they important?

To thrive as a Senior Reinforcement Learning Engineer, you need deep expertise in machine learning, reinforcement learning algorithms, and programming languages such as Python, often supported by an advanced degree in computer science or a related field. Familiarity with frameworks like TensorFlow, PyTorch, and RL-specific libraries, as well as experience with high-performance computing and cloud platforms, is typically required. Strong problem-solving abilities, collaboration, and communication skills help distinguish top performers in this role. These skills ensure the development of efficient, robust RL models and effective teamwork on complex AI projects.

What is the difference between Senior Reinforcement Learning vs Data Scientist?

AspectSenior Reinforcement LearningData Scientist
Required CredentialsAdvanced degrees in CS, ML, or related fields; experience with RL frameworksDegree in CS, Statistics, or related; strong analytical skills
Work EnvironmentResearch labs, AI teams, tech companies focusing on ML projectsBusiness analytics, data analysis, and modeling in various industries
Employer & Industry UsageTech firms, AI startups, research institutionsFinance, healthcare, marketing, tech, and more

While both roles require strong analytical skills and technical knowledge, Senior Reinforcement Learning specialists focus on developing RL algorithms and models, often in AI research settings. Data Scientists analyze data to inform business decisions across industries. The roles overlap in data handling and programming but differ in their core focus and application areas.

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Senior Reinforcement Learning jobs near you
Infographic showing various Senior Reinforcement Learning job openings in the United States as of August 2026, with employment types broken down into 100% Full Time. Highlights an 100% In-person job distribution, with an average salary of $80,287 per year, or $38.6 per hour.

Senior Staff Research Scientist, Reinforcement Learning

Centific

East Palo Alto, CA • On-site

Full-time

Re-posted 13 days ago

Job description

About Centific
Centific is a frontier AI data foundry that curates diverse, high-quality data, using our purpose-built technology platforms to empower the Magnificent Seven and our enterprise clients with safe, scalable AI deployment. Our team includes more than 150 PhDs and data scientists, along with more than 4,000 AI practitioners and engineers. We harness the power of an integrated solution ecosystem-comprising industry-leading partnerships and 1.8 million vertical domain experts in more than 230 markets-to create contextual, multilingual, pre-trained datasets; fine-tuned, industry-specific LLMs; and RAG pipelines supported by vector databases. Our zero-distance innovation™ solutions for GenAI can reduce GenAI costs by up to 80% and bring solutions to market 50% faster.
Our mission is to bridge the gap between AI creators and industry leaders by bringing best practices in GenAI to unicorn innovators and enterprise customers. We aim to help these organizations unlock significant business value by deploying GenAI at scale, helping to ensure they stay at the forefront of technological advancement and maintain a competitive edge in their respective markets.
About Job
What You'll Do
  • Design simulation environments and digital twins for enterprise workflows
  • Post-train LLM agents using RLHF, DPO, GRPO, PPO, and emerging methods
  • Build pipelines that convert human-labeled traces and verifiable signals into training data
  • Architect multi-turn, tool-using agents with closed learning loops
  • Design reward functions and verifiers that resist reward hacking and reflect real task outcomes
  • Set the technical bar across the team - architecture, code review, engineering standards
  • Mentor researchers and engineers; drive technical direction through influence
  • Translate research into production; contribute to publications

Required Qualifications
Experience & Education
  • 7+ years in ML/AI research or engineering; 3+ years at senior/staff level
  • MS or PhD in Computer Science, Machine Learning, or related field (or equivalent)
  • 5+ years hands-on RL - environment design, reward engineering, policy optimization - with at least one production deployment

LLM Post-Training
  • 3+ years fine-tuning LLMs with hands-on RL post-training (RLHF, DPO, GRPO, PPO)
  • Expert-level implementation of RLHF pipelines, reward modeling (Bradley-Terry), DPO, and KTO
  • Working knowledge of modern post-training and rollout-serving libraries (TRL, veRL, OpenRLHF, SkyRL)

Agent Engineering
  • Experience building LLM-based agents: tool use, multi-turn reasoning, trajectory evaluation
  • Strong Python and software engineering skills - comfortable building production pipelines, not just notebooks

RL Foundations
  • Deep expertise in MDPs, policy gradient methods (PPO, SAC), and temporal difference learning
  • Hands-on experience with Gymnasium-based environments and reward engineering (sparse vs. dense)

Preferred Qualifications
  • Publications at NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, ACL, COLM, or similar venues
  • Open-source contributions to post-training or agent frameworks (TRL, veRL, OpenRLHF, SkyRL)
  • Experience with Offline RL (CQL, IQL), Model-based RL / World Models, or Hierarchical RL
  • Background in synthetic data generation, simulation, or world models
  • Domain experience in healthcare, finance, logistics, or compliance
  • Distributed training on GPU clusters

Why Join Centific
  • Lead the frontier. Shape a new discipline at the intersection of post-training, simulation, and enterprise AI.
  • Ship your science. See your research power real systems across healthcare, finance, and safety-critical operations.
  • Collaborate with leaders. Work alongside NVIDIA, Microsoft, and the global AI community.
  • Build what matters. Create governed, compliant AI systems enterprises can actually trust.

How to Apply
Send your CV, a description of a technically complex system you personally built or led, and (if applicable) your publication list or open-source contributions to:
diana.moeck@centific.com
Subject: Senior Staff Research Scientist - RL
$250k-$300k +
Centific is an equal-opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, age, mental or physical disability, medical condition, sex (including pregnancy), gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, marital status, familial status, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. We consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements.

Apply