Research Engineer

About Vercel:

Vercel gives developers the tools and cloud infrastructure to build, scale, and secure a faster, more personalized web. As the team behind v0, Next.js, and AI SDK, Vercel helps customers like Ramp, Supreme, PayPal, and Under Armour build for the AI-native web.

Our mission is to enable the world ship the best products. That starts with creating a place where everyone can do their best work. Whether you're building on our platform, supporting our customers, or shaping our story: You can just ship things.

About the Role:

The v0 team is a fast-moving group within Vercel focused on building the future of UI development with AI. We’re working on v0.dev, a cutting-edge generative design tool that turns natural language into functional, beautiful React components using Tailwind CSS, leveraging large language models and novel research in human-AI collaboration.

What You Will Do:

As a Research Engineer, you'll sit at the intersection of machine learning, product development, and frontend engineering. You’ll work closely with product designers, ML scientists, and full-stack engineers to prototype and deploy innovative systems that redefine how developers and designers build interfaces.

Your responsibilities include:

• Designing and developing prototypes that explore new interaction paradigms powered by LLMs.
• Researching and implementing state-of-the-art models and prompting strategies for UI generation and code synthesis.
• Collaborating on building and fine-tuning internal tools, datasets, and evaluation pipelines.
• Running A/B tests and user experiments to validate hypotheses and improve generation quality.
• Bridging the gap between research and production—bringing cutting-edge techniques into a stable and scalable environment.

About You:

We’re seeking a creative and practical thinker who thrives in ambiguity, loves building with AI, and has an eye for design and developer ergonomics.

You may be a good fit if you have:

• 3+ years of experience in research engineering, applied ML, or related fields.
• Strong programming skills in Python and JavaScript/TypeScript.
• Experience working with or fine-tuning LLMs (OpenAI, Hugging Face, etc.).
• A solid understanding of modern frontend technologies (React, Tailwind, etc.).

Benefits:

• Competitive compensation package, including equity.
• Inclusive Healthcare Package.
• Learn and Grow - we provide mentorship and send you to events that help you build your network and skills.
• Flexible Time Off.
• We will provide you the gear you need to do your role, and a WFH budget for you to outfit your space as needed.

The San Francisco, CA base pay range for this role is $192,000-$288,000.  This salary range is an estimate. Actual salary will be based on job related skills, experience and location. Pay ranges outside San Francisco may be  adjusted based on employee location.  The total compensation package also includes benefits and equity-based compensation. Your recruiter can share more about the specific pay range for your location during the hiring process.

Vercel is committed to fostering and empowering an inclusive community within our organization. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, gender expression or identity, sexual orientation, national origin, citizenship, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status, or any other characteristic protected by law. Vercel encourages everyone to apply for our available positions, even if they don't necessarily check every box on the job description.