AI Research Scientist/Engineer
Who is Sonar?
Sonar is driving the future of agent-centric software development. As the leader in AI code verification and governance, we solve a critical problem: ensuring that software generated by AI-assisted developers or autonomous agents is reliable, secure, and maintainable.
Integrating seamlessly with Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini, and Devin, we help over 75% of the Fortune 100 build trusted, reliable, compliant software. Customers who use Sonar are 44% less likely to report an outage due to AI-generated code.
We believe code verification is the critical missing link in the Agent-Centric Development Cycle (AC/DC). Industry giants like Nvidia, ServiceNow, Booking.com, Goldman Sachs, AstraZeneca, and Ford Motor Company count on us to provide independent, explainable, consistent review and governance of their AI-generated code via products like:
- SonarQube: The world’s leading AI code review and verification platform.
- SonarQube Foundation Agent: Currently topping the leaderboards for agentic software repair.
- SonarSweep & Sonar Context Augmentation: Providing the enterprise-grade context and constraints agents need to be truly effective.
Our team operates across global hubs in Austin, Bochum, Dubai, Geneva, London, Singapore, Tokyo, and Washington D.C. We move with a mindset we call CODE:
- Committed to our customers and community.
- Obsessed with quality.
- Deliberate in our decisions.
- Effective as one team.
With over $400M in revenue and profitable, fast-paced growth, we are building the backbone of the AI software revolution. If you’re hungry to have an impact, want to build at a fast pace, and ready to work at the forefront of AI, we want to hear from you.
Position description
What you will do
- Spearhead Research & Innovation: Stay on the cutting edge of ML, Deep Learning, and LLMs, specifically their application to the Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC), and identify novel opportunities to enhance our products.
- Develop Advanced AI Models: Design, prototype, and validate novel ML models that identify and resolve complex bugs, vulnerabilities, and code smells, going beyond the capabilities of traditional static analysis.
- Build LLM-Powered Features: Develop and implement advanced LLM-based solutions, including Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) for contextual code analysis, fine-tuning models on proprietary codebases, and exploring agentic systems for automated code remediation.
- Engineer Data Pipelines: Build and manage robust data pipelines to gather, process, and version massive code-centric datasets required for training and evaluating specialized models at scale.
- Translate Prototypes to Products: Collaborate closely with engineering and product teams to integrate successful ML prototypes into Sonar's cutting-edge products, ensuring they meet the needs of our global user base.
- Communicate and Evangelize: Clearly articulate and document complex technical concepts and research findings to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
Experience and qualifications
- An advanced academic background (Master’s or PhD) in Computer Science, Machine Learning, or a related quantitative field.
- Strong industry experience in machine learning, with a solid understanding of modern software engineering practices and tools.
- Solid programming skills in Python and hands-on experience with core ML/DL frameworks (e.g., PyTorch, TensorFlow, Hugging Face). Familiarity with Java is a plus.
- Proven experience in applied Machine Learning, with a strong focus on Natural Language Processing (NLP) or, ideally, Programming Language Processing (PLP).
- Hands-on experience with modern LLM architectures and techniques, such as Fine-tuning strategies (e.g., LoRA, QLoRA), advanced prompt engineering, building and optimizing Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) pipelines and working with vector databases and semantic search
- Experience with large-scale data processing frameworks and cloud infrastructure (e.g. AWS).
- Experience of driving research projects from initial ideation to a demonstrable prototype with a high degree of autonomy.
- Excellent communication skills in English and a talent for explaining complex scientific topics clearly and concisely.
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