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About This Role
The research assistant will be trained in collecting and analyzing data in the Neural Plasticity Rehabilitation and Movement Dynamics Laboratory. The research assistant may require working during the weekends or university holidays.
Anticipated Weekly Schedule: Flexible around class schedule
Primary Work Location: HPEB
Desired Start Date: August 1, 2026
Responsibilities
1\. Currently pursuing or recently completed a master’s degree in mechanical engineering.
2\. Has taken Biomechanics of Human Movement (ME EN 5960/6960\-004\) course
3\. Well\-versed in MATLAB
4\. Preferable experience in other programming languages such as PYTHON, and C\+\+ is beneficial.
5\. Attend a weekly laboratory meeting and report to the group on progress of assigned duties.
6\. Assist other laboratory staff in collecting biomechanics and neurophysiological data (Training provided).
7\. Develop codes to control hardware using LAB View and analyze data using MATLAB/Python.
8\. Handle sensitive data in a professional manner that complies with all confidentiality rules and regulations.
9\. Communicate clearly and effectively (both verbally and in writing) with colleagues, other members of the research team, and Principal Investigator.
10\. Must be able to work independently while exhibiting a level of judgment that ensures participant safety and adherence to study protocols and procedures.
11\. Flexibility in scheduling work hours around course schedule, as rates of recruitment span and fluctuate across the calendar year.
Minimum Qualifications
EQUIVALENCYSTATEMENT: 1 year of higher education can be substituted for 1 year of directly related work experience (Example: bachelor’s degree \= 4 years of directly related work experience).
Department may hire employee at one of the following job levels:
Research Assistant, I: Requires little to no related experience.
Research Assistant, II : Requires at least 1 year of related experience.
Research Assistant, III: Requires 3\+ years of related experience.
Preferences
U of U students are preferred
Special Instructions Summary
Apply and: Email resume, cover letter, three names of references if interested: amit.sethi@utah.edu
Additional Information
The University is a participating employer with Utah Retirement Systems (“URS”). Eligible new hires with prior URS service, may elect to enroll in URS if they make the election before they become eligible for retirement (usually the first day of work). Contact Human Resources at (801\) 581\-7447 for information. Individuals who previously retired and are receiving monthly retirement benefits from URS are subject to URS’ post\-retirement rules and restrictions. Please contact Utah Retirement Systems at (801\) 366\-7770 or (800\) 695\-4877 or University Human Resource Management at (801\) 581\-7447 if you have questions regarding the post\-retirement rules.
This position may require the successful completion of a criminal background check and/or drug screen.
The University of Utah values candidates who have experience working in settings with students and possess a strong commitment to improving access to higher education.
Veterans’ preference is extended to qualified applicants, upon request and consistent with University policy and Utah state law. Upon request, reasonable accommodations in the application process will be provided to individuals with disabilities.
Consistent with state and federal law, the University of Utah does not discriminate based upon race, ethnicity, color, religion, national origin, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy\-related conditions, genetic information, or protected veteran’s status. The University does not discriminate on the basis of sex in the education program or activity that it operates, as required by Title IX and 34 CFR part 106\. The requirement not to discriminate in education programs or activities extends to admission and employment. Inquiries about the application of Title IX and its regulations may be referred to the Title IX Coordinator, to the Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, or both.
To request a reasonable accommodation for a disability or if you or someone you know has experienced discrimination or sexual misconduct including sexual harassment, you may contact the Director/Title IX Coordinator in the Office of Equal Opportunity and Title IX (OEO). More information, including the Director/Title IX Coordinator’s office address, electronic mail address, and telephone number can be located at the: University of Utah Non‑Discrimination page.
Online reports may be submitted at https://oeo.utah.edu
https://publicsafety.utah.edu/safetyreport/ This report includes statistics about criminal offenses, hate crimes, arrests and referrals for disciplinary action, and Violence Against Women Act offenses. They also provide information about safety and security\-related services offered by the University of Utah. A paper copy can be obtained by request at the Department of Public Safety located at 1658 East 500 South.
Posting Specific Questions
------------------------------
Required fields are indicated with an asterisk (\*).
- \* What is your highest level of completed education?
+ None
+ High School Diploma or Equivalent
+ Associate Degree
+ Bachelor's Degree
+ Master's Degree
+ Doctorate Degree
- \* How many years of related work experience do you have?
+ Less than 2 years
+ 2 years or more, but less than 4 years
+ 4 years or more, but less than 6 years
+ 6 years or more, but less than 8 years
+ 8 years or more, but less than 10 years
+ 10 years or more, but less than 12 years
+ 12 years or more, but less than 14 years
+ 14 years or more
Applicant Documents
-----------------------
Required Documents
- Resume
- Cover Letter
- List of References
Optional Documents
Open Date 07/14/2026
Requisition Number PRN17229N
Job Title Hourly Research Assistants
Working Title Research Engineer
Career Progression Track S00
Track Level S3 \- Skilled, S2 \- Intermediate, S1 \- Entry Level Support
FLSA Code Nonexempt
Patient Sensitive Job Code? Yes
Type Non Benefited Staff / Student
Temporary? No
Standard Hours per Week up to 19 hours
Full Time or Part Time? Part Time
Shift Day
Work Schedule Summary
Is this a work study job? No
VP Area U of U Health \- Academics
Department 00204 \- Occupational/Recreational Therapy
Location Campus
City Salt Lake City, UT
Type of Recruitment External Posting
Pay Rate Range $15\-20 based on experience and qualifications
Close Date 10/14/2026
Priority Review Date (Note \- Posting may close at any time)
Salary Context
This $31K-$41K range is in the lower quartile for Research Engineer roles in our dataset (median: $188K across 44 roles with salary data).
View full Research Engineer salary data →Role Details
About This Role
Research Engineers bridge the gap between research and production. They implement papers, build experiment infrastructure, optimize training pipelines, and make research prototypes production-ready. They're the engineers who make research work at scale.
The role sits at a unique intersection. You need to understand the math well enough to implement novel architectures correctly, and you need the engineering chops to make them run efficiently on distributed systems. When a research scientist has a breakthrough idea, you're the person who turns it from a notebook prototype into a training pipeline that runs on 256 GPUs.
Across the 3,708 AI roles we're tracking, Research Engineer positions make up 2% of the market. At University of Utah, this role fits into their broader AI and engineering organization.
Research Engineer roles are growing as AI labs recognize that research velocity depends on engineering quality. The role is less competitive than Research Scientist (no PhD required), but the bar for engineering skill is very high. These roles are concentrated at major labs and well-funded startups.
What the Work Looks Like
A typical week involves: implementing a new attention mechanism from a recent paper, profiling and optimizing a training pipeline that's bottlenecked on data loading, building evaluation infrastructure for a new benchmark, debugging distributed training issues across a GPU cluster, and pair-programming with a research scientist on their latest experiment. The work is deeply technical.
Research Engineer roles are growing as AI labs recognize that research velocity depends on engineering quality. The role is less competitive than Research Scientist (no PhD required), but the bar for engineering skill is very high. These roles are concentrated at major labs and well-funded startups.
Skills Required
Strong software engineering fundamentals plus ML knowledge. Python, C++, and CUDA experience are common requirements. You'll need to read papers and turn ideas into working code. Distributed systems experience (especially distributed training) is highly valued. Performance optimization skills separate great candidates from good ones.
Experience with large-scale training infrastructure (FSDP, DeepSpeed, Megatron), GPU programming (CUDA, Triton), and the internals of ML frameworks (PyTorch internals, custom autograd functions) is what makes candidates stand out. The best research engineers can debug issues that span the full stack from GPU memory management to numerical precision to algorithmic correctness.
Strong postings mention the team's recent research, the infrastructure scale, and the specific technical challenges. They often list the research areas you'd support. Look for roles that emphasize both implementation quality and research understanding.
Compensation Benchmarks
Research Engineer roles pay a median of $280,000 based on 147 positions with disclosed compensation. Mid-level AI roles across all categories have a median of $200,000. This role's midpoint ($36K) sits 87% below the category median. Disclosed range: $31K to $41K.
Across all AI roles, the market median is $217,500. Top-quartile compensation starts at $272,100. The 90th percentile reaches $325,000. For comparison, the highest-paying categories include AI Safety ($300,000) and AI Architect ($254,798). By seniority level: Entry: $120,000; Mid: $200,000; Senior: $230,000; Director: $272,150; VP: $250,000.
University of Utah AI Hiring
University of Utah has 4 open AI roles right now. They're hiring across AI/ML Engineer, Research Engineer, Research Scientist. Based in Salt Lake City, UT, US. Compensation range: $41K - $125K.
Location Context
Across all AI roles, 14% (508 positions) offer remote work, while 3,180 require on-site attendance. Top AI hiring metros: New York (1,045 roles, $220,000 median); San Francisco (810 roles, $277,088 median); Los Angeles (397 roles, $215,000 median).
Career Path
Common paths into Research Engineer roles include Software Engineer, ML Engineer, Research Intern.
From here, career progression typically leads toward Senior Research Engineer, Research Scientist, ML Architect.
This is one of the best entry points into AI research without a PhD. Build a strong engineering portfolio with ML projects, contribute to open-source ML frameworks, and demonstrate that you can implement complex ideas correctly and efficiently. The transition to Research Scientist is possible with published first-author work, which some research engineer roles support.
What to Expect in Interviews
Technical screens test both engineering skill and research understanding. Expect coding rounds with performance-critical implementations (GPU optimization, efficient data loading). Be prepared to discuss papers relevant to the team's research area and explain how you'd implement key ideas. System design questions focus on training infrastructure: distributed training, experiment tracking, and compute resource management.
When evaluating opportunities: Strong postings mention the team's recent research, the infrastructure scale, and the specific technical challenges. They often list the research areas you'd support. Look for roles that emphasize both implementation quality and research understanding.
AI Hiring Overview
The AI job market has 3,708 open positions tracked in our dataset. By seniority: 102 entry-level, 1,705 mid-level, 1,469 senior, and 432 leadership roles (Director, VP, C-Level). Remote roles make up 14% of the market (508 positions). The remaining 3,180 roles require on-site or hybrid attendance.
The market median for AI roles is $217,500. Top-quartile compensation starts at $272,100. The 90th percentile reaches $325,000. Highest-paying categories: AI Safety ($300,000 median, 21 roles); Research Engineer ($280,000 median, 147 roles); AI Architect ($254,798 median, 67 roles).
Research Engineer roles are growing as AI labs recognize that research velocity depends on engineering quality. The role is less competitive than Research Scientist (no PhD required), but the bar for engineering skill is very high. These roles are concentrated at major labs and well-funded startups.
The AI Job Market Today
The AI job market spans 3,708 open positions across 16 role categories. The largest categories by volume: AI/ML Engineer (2,605), Data Scientist (310), AI Software Engineer (259). These three account for the majority of open positions, though smaller categories often have higher per-role compensation because of specialized skill requirements.
The seniority mix tells a story about where AI teams are in their maturity. Entry-level roles (102) are outnumbered by mid-level (1,705) and senior (1,469) positions, reflecting that most companies are past the 'build a team from scratch' phase and need experienced engineers who can ship production systems. Leadership roles (Director, VP, C-Level) total 432 positions, representing the bottleneck between technical execution and organizational strategy.
Remote work availability sits at 14% of all AI roles (508 positions), with 3,180 requiring on-site or hybrid attendance. The remote share has stabilized after the post-pandemic correction. Senior and specialized roles (Research Scientist, ML Architect) are more likely to be remote-eligible than entry-level positions, partly because experienced hires have more negotiating power and partly because these roles require less hands-on mentorship.
AI compensation is structured in clear tiers. The market median sits at $217,500. Top-quartile roles start at $272,100, and the 90th percentile reaches $325,000. These figures include base salary with disclosed compensation. Total compensation (including equity, bonuses, and sign-on) runs 20-40% higher at companies that offer those components.
Category matters for compensation. AI Safety roles lead at $300,000 median, while Prompt Engineer roles sit at $140,000. The spread between highest and lowest-paying categories reflects the premium on specialized technical skills versus broader analytical roles.
The most in-demand skills across all AI postings: Python (1,890 postings), Aws (1,103 postings), Azure (877 postings), Rag (855 postings), Gcp (631 postings), Prompt Engineering (560 postings), Pytorch (545 postings), Claude (498 postings). Python dominates, appearing in the vast majority of role descriptions regardless of category. Cloud platform experience (AWS, GCP, Azure) is the second most common requirement. The newer entrants to the top skills list (RAG, vector databases, LLM APIs) reflect the shift from traditional ML toward generative AI applications.
Frequently Asked Questions
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