Research Engineer (Prototyping), GitHub Next

Key Skills

Github, Large Language Models - LLMs, React.js, Software Development, TypeScript

Job Description

GitHub has changed the way software is built, and we have a unique opportunity to look further ahead to identify how software development can be faster, safer, easier, and more accessible. We’re looking for talented, experienced polymaths to join us in this mission! This is the rare role that affords both startup-level agency and a larger company’s resources.

Our team, GitHub Next, has incubated genre-defining products like Copilot, the new GitHub Code Search, and more. You’ll work closely with a small group of experienced and talented researchers to explore the future of software development. Our team’s prototypes inform GitHub’s leadership and roadmap. Each exploration represents a risky bet that GitHub might want to make, and we have to support those bets with working prototypes.

Please note that this is not an academic research role. Our job is to dream big and then build it. Our team feels like a permanent startup — every time we succeed, we hand off our prototypes and return to the drawing board to do it all over again.

You can see many of our projects at GitHub Next...

Responsibilities:

Research Engineers conduct investigations and build prototypes. Sometimes, we have an interesting technological idea but need to figure out how to turn it into a reliable product. Other times, we dream of an experience, but we’re not sure how to make that experience a reality. With few constraints on our solution space, our hardest task is figuring out how to scope our bets and deliver value. We will have more ideas than we can possibly pursue; choosing wisely is part of the job.

The exploration domains are varied and will require an ability to understand, investigate, and implement prototypes across a wide range of technologies. Our team has a lot of different skills under one roof, and we work together in squads to identify and debate ideas, then execute everything needed for a working prototype.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Several years experience building and shipping software using a variety of technology stacks, or equivalent experience 
• Experience identifying and justifying research goals in situations of ambiguity and executing towards those goals without explicit direction
• Experience creating rapid prototypes that demonstrate a concept to stakeholders and enable decision making

Preferred Qualifications:

These are more specific abilities we’re looking for, but it is the rare human who possesses them all. Think of this as a descriptive sketch, not a checklist of requirements. Be comfortable applying even if you don’t have all of them.

• A deep understanding of GitHub’s industry and business context and the ability to articulate topics related to our product and audience
• Has held roles that deal with topics at the boundary of human knowledge regarding software development and developers
• Have significant experience with one or more frontend technologies. We currently default to Typescript and React for the web and a range of technologies on the backend, but “whatever enables us to ship” is the top concern
• Have significant experience with machine learning, LLMs, and the rapidly-evolving landscape of techniques and tools used to build intelligence into products
• Have significant experience with one or more backend technologies: server-side environments, compute, datastores, networking, infrastructure, devops, security, and programming languages
• Have significant experience with open-source software, communities, and the systems these communities use to self-organize and ship software for others
• Have significant experience operating production systems at a nontrivial scale and are familiar with the common patterns and pitfalls of that work
• Have significant experience in another area of computing that is relevant to our mission. Human-computer interaction, distributed systems, $YOURTHING

You may be a good fit if:

• You are a generalist with some areas of deeper knowledge. Hybrids will feel at home on this team. We will also consider candidates who have specialized in a relevant field.
• You are an effective and inclusive communicator, comfortable with remote communication practices. Next’s currency is ideas; the health of our team, our execution, and our results rests on our ability to communicate well.

• You are comfortable collaborating with teammates to figure out what work needs doing, then splitting up that work and doing it. Ideating alone is natural and common, but projects staffed by one individual are not. Your teammates are the first ones you must persuade with your ideas.
• You are comfortable reading source code. You are comfortable picking up new technology stacks in the normal course of work. This is a senior engineering role!
• While we do have some technologies that we generally like to use, we are not indexing on a specific stack. Experience is more than your ability to write code in language X or framework Y.

Location: In this role, you can work remotely from anywhere in the United Kingdom.