Machine Learning Researcher
Rainmaker Technology Corporation · El Segundo, CA
$160,000–$220,000
Jul 23, 2026
El Segundo, CA
Jul 25, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
A first-of-its-kind individual-contributor role at an atmospheric science startup, responsible for identifying and prioritizing ML opportunities across the organization, then building and evaluating models for problems such as supercooled liquid water forecasting, multimodal atmospheric-state estimation, and cloud-seeding intervention analysis. The work involves constructing datasets, baselines, and validation procedures from heterogeneous sensor data — radar, satellite, UAS, soundings, and proprietary in-cloud observations — and collaborating with meteorologists and software engineers to move proven approaches into operational workflows.
Senior level · Full-time
Pay in the description: $160,000–$220,000
“or” means any one of them counts — you don't need all of them.
Posted 3 times — it's one opening, so apply once.
We read this from the posting text with AI. Skim the description below before ruling yourself out.
How this req sits in the market our data
Most people in this occupation already list these. Still required — just not what gets you shortlisted.
What the occupation pays Median $122,874 (middle half $87,544–$162,374). This posting is about at that midpoint.
Estimated from BLS employment for this occupation and area, per-skill prevalence across our listing corpus, and published wage benchmarks — as of Jul 28, 2026. It is a model, not a headcount.
Why we read it this way (7)
The job title is 'Machine Learning Researcher' with no seniority level in the title; the title states no level. However, the scope — first ML hire, setting company-wide ML strategy, delivering production-ready models, and potentially leading a future team — clearly supports a Senior classification.
The SOC is a genuine toss-up between 15-2051 (Data Scientists, reflecting the ML research, probabilistic modeling, and scientific estimation focus) and 15-1252 (Software Developers, reflecting the emphasis on writing research-quality software, building prototypes, and partnering with engineers to productionize models). 15-2051 was chosen as primary because the role is explicitly framed as 'ML Researcher' with a scientific modeling mandate.
No work location or city is mentioned in the posting. The mention of in-office lunch and HQ EV charging implies a physical office exists, so remote=false was set, but the CBSA is unknown.
No minimum degree is stated; the posting explicitly values demonstrated ability 'regardless of whether it was developed in academia, industry, independent work, or another technical field,' so the degree requirement is None.
All preferred qualifications (domain experience with weather/remote sensing/geospatial, forecasting/sequence/probabilistic/generative models, radar/satellite/sensor data, production deployment, data-collection strategy design, atmospheric science familiarity) are listed under a clearly labeled 'Preferred Qualifications' section and are marked accordingly.
The ML framework requirement names PyTorch and JAX as explicit alternatives ('such as PyTorch, JAX, or an equivalent system'); these are captured as one skill with alternatives rather than split entries. The 'or equivalent' qualifier means the specific tool is interchangeable but the capability is a hard gate.
No total years of experience are stated at the role level.
Read the full posting
The employer publishes the full description on their own site — read it there ↗. Or sign in to read it here — it's free, and it also lets you track this application.