AI Researcher

Maincode is building an AI model factory. We’ve built Matilda, Australia’s first large language model trained entirely from scratch, and we’re developing new reasoning architectures that go beyond today’s LLMs. We train models from first principles, explore how they learn and reason, and work to understand what makes intelligence scalable.

As an AI Researcher, you’ll help design the next generation of foundation models. You’ll explore new architectures, training objectives, and data representations that expand what models can do. You’ll study where current systems fall short in reasoning, learning efficiency, or alignment, and build prototypes that test new directions.

This is a hands-on, applied research role. You’ll write code, run experiments, analyse results, and iterate quickly. When your models show promise, you’ll work with AI Engineers to take them from prototypes to large-scale training and deployment.

• Design and prototype new model architectures, reasoning systems, and training algorithms

• Explore improved ways to represent data, design objectives, and train models that reason and learn more effectively

• Build and test experimental pipelines on real-world data

• Stay deeply engaged with the latest research from venues like NeurIPS, ICLR, and ICML

• Work closely with AI Engineers to scale and deploy promising models

• Help shape the scientific and technical direction of our research efforts

• Contribute to an open, rigorous, and collaborative research culture

• A researcher with strong technical or theoretical grounding, whether in machine learning, physics, neuroscience, or applied mathematics

• Experienced in training or experimenting with deep learning models and curious about how to make them better

• Skilled in Python and frameworks like PyTorch or JAX, with a bias towards experimentation

• Comfortable turning abstract research questions into concrete model designs and experiments

• Deeply interested in reasoning, representation, and the limits of current architectures

• Excited to collaborate closely with engineers to bring research ideas to life

• Motivated to help build advanced AI capability in Australia

We’re a small team building advanced AI systems from the ground up. We run our own GPU clusters, train our own models, and work across research and engineering to push the frontier of what’s possible.

You’ll work with people who:

• Care about how models actually learn and reason

• Build things that work, at scale

• Value curiosity, depth, and craftsmanship

• Want to help Australia build world-class AI systems