Research Scientist, Networking Research - PhD New College Grad 2026 - CA, Santa Clara, United States

Originally posted 18 September 2026 by the employer.

About the role

This role focuses on designing networks optimized for AI systems and leveraging AI and machine learning to advance network architecture and enable intelligent, real-time decision-making. You will invent new networking technologies to advance the performance, scalability, and efficiency of computing platforms.

What you'll do

• Develop network architectures, algorithms, and hardware/software co-design approaches for high-performance interconnects and distributed AI systems.
• Create and evaluate mechanisms for network and system decision-making in large-scale GPU/accelerator clusters, including AI/ML-based approaches for routing, traffic engineering, congestion control, scheduling, topology design, and telemetry-driven control loops.
• Invent new techniques, technologies, methodologies, processes, and devices, delivering prototypes, patents, publications, and product impact.
• Prototype new ideas in simulation or through analytical modeling.
• Participate in the broader research community by serving as a reviewer, on Program Committees, publishing papers, and speaking at conferences.
• Collaborate with external researchers, primarily in academia.

What you'll need

• Pursuing or recently completed a PhD in CS, CE, EE, Physics, Math, or equivalent experience.
• 2+ years of relevant industrial and academic experience, including systems and network design for AI or HPC infrastructure and/or applying AI/ML to systems or networking problems (e.g., optimization, reinforcement learning, graph learning, telemetry-driven control).
• Background and publication record in systems, networking, computer architecture, and/or ML for networking/systems.
• Evidence via publications plus artifacts (open-source, prototypes, production deployments) demonstrating impactful contributions to systems or network design for AI infrastructure, including where ML/RL informs design or drives online decisions.
• Strong programming and prototyping ability, with experience building research artifacts, simulators, or system prototypes; C++ and Python preferred.

Nice to have

• Publication at venues such as ISCA, HPCA, MICRO, SIGCOMM, NSDI.
• Experience with AI/ML methods for systems and networks supporting AI workloads (e.g., PyTorch/TensorFlow/JAX).
• Experience with hardware description languages or HLS.

Skills: network architectures, AI systems, machine learning, distributed AI systems, GPU/accelerator clusters