--- title: 'Member of Technical Staff, Engineering at FirstPrinciples' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/member-of-technical-staff-engineering-firstprinciples-canada-95tmddsywcrx' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-09-12' --- # Member of Technical Staff, Engineering at FirstPrinciples - **Company:** FirstPrinciples - **Location:** Canada - **Work type:** remote - **Posted:** 2024-04-01 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-12 - **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/firstprinciples/jobs/4011228008 ## Job description https://boards.greenhouse.io/firstprinciples About FirstPrinciples: FirstPrinciples is a non-profit organization building an autonomous AI Physicist to understand the nature of reality: the underlying structure, governing principles, and fundamental laws of our universe. We're developing an intelligent system that can explore theoretical frameworks, reason across disciplines, and generate novel insights to tackle the deepest unsolved problems in physics. By combining AI, symbolic reasoning, and autonomous research capabilities, we're developing a platform that goes beyond analyzing existing knowledge to actively contribute to physics research. Our goal is to accelerate progress on the questions that have captivated humanity for centuries. We operate as a global nonprofit organization, with a Canadian foundation, a US-based 501(c)(3). Job Description: FirstPrinciples is seeking skilled and motivated developers to join our team. In this role, you will play a crucial role in building technology tools to accelerate research in theoretical physics. You will work on developing our AI Physicist, leveraging gen AI tools like ChatGPT, and exploring and building new technologies to drive breakthroughs in theoretical physics. Key Responsibilities: - Contribute to the design and coding of the AI Physicist, a closed-loop research engine, including the development of tools to support hypotheses generation, peer review, physics based simulations, validation against experimental data and self-revision, among other things. - Write safe, testable code and set up automated unit tests to catch errors and apply lessons from recent research findings. - Explore and integrate SOTA tools into existing platforms to enhance model capabilities. These tools can provide advanced analysis and insights, furthering the understanding of theoretical physics. - Add self-improvement features that pass automated checks before deployment. - Track runtime metrics and suggest optimizations that keep the project efficient and sustainable. - Develop custom tech solutions tailored to the specific needs of researchers. This may include developing algorithms, data analysis tools, or other software to accelerate research in specific areas of theoretical physics. - Apply knowledge of product development principles and practices to ensure that the tools developed are useful and effective for theoretical physicists worldwide. - Collaborate with stakeholders to define requirements, prioritize features, and ensure successful delivery. Qualifications: - Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field. - Experience with common software architecture patterns and best practices. - Proven experience with web development and API integrations is essential. - Excellent programming skills are a must. - Proficiency in gen AI tools and their applications (e.g., ChatGPT, AlphaCode, Claude) is necessary. - Strong communication skills are crucial to articulate technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders. - Ability to work independently and collaboratively in a fast-paced environment. - Knowledge of theoretical physics or a strong interest in the field is a plus. - Familiarity with cloud technologies and infrastructure is a plus. - A passion for advancing knowledge and science advocacy is highly desirable. Application Process: - Interested candidates are invited to submit their resume, a cover letter detailing their qualifications and vision for the role, and references. Please include “Member of Technical Staff, Engineering" in the cover letter. Join us at FirstPrinciples and be a part of a transformative journey where science drives progress and unlocks the potential of humanity. ## About FirstPrinciples ## Company Overview - **One-liner**: FirstPrinciples is a non-profit research organization building an autonomous AI Physicist to advance humanity’s understanding of the fundamental laws of nature. - **Entity Type**: Private (non-profit) - **Headquarters**: Toronto, Canada - **Founded**: 2024 - **Founders**: Ildar Shar ## Core Business - **Primary industry**: Research Services / AI Research - **Target customers**: Researchers, physicists, AI/ML engineers, and the broader scientific community (B2B and B2C oriented toward academia and research institutions) - **Mission or purpose statement**: To understand the nature of reality – the underlying structure, governing principles, and fundamental laws of the universe – by building an open, autonomous AI system that accelerates scientific discovery. ## Products & Services - **AI Physicist**: An open-source, autonomous research engine that combines AI, symbolic reasoning, and autonomous research capabilities to explore theoretical frameworks, generate novel insights, and actively contribute to physics research. (Platform / Research Engine) - **FirstPrinciples Fellowship Program**: A fixed-term (6–12 month), fully remote fellowship for PhD and postdoctoral researchers in AI and physics. Fellows work directly with the team to build core modules of the AI Physicist, with deliverables going into production. (Program / Fellowship) ## Market Standing - **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not applicable (non-profit) - **Key Metric**: Headcount – 27 employees (as of mid-2026), with 140% year-over-year growth and 12.5% monthly growth - **Notable Investors/Partners**: Not publicly disclosed - **Growth Signals**: - Launched the FirstPrinciples Fellowship Program in January 2026 - Active job postings for 8+ roles (engineers, researchers, partnerships) - Remote-first global collective with presence in Canada, United States, and Belgium ## Competitive Advantages - **AI-first, mission-driven approach**: Unlike traditional research labs, FirstPrinciples operates like a tech startup – moving quickly, iterating continuously, and shipping production code. - **Open-source, autonomous research engine**: The AI Physicist is designed to be open and collaborative, integrating contributions from the global scientific community. - **Cross-disciplinary rigor**: Combines deep physics expertise with advanced AI, symbolic reasoning, and software engineering, enabling novel approaches to fundamental problems. - **Non-profit structure**: Focus on scientific impact rather than commercial returns, attracting talent driven by long-horizon, ambitious goals. ## Strategic Focus - Achieving a breakthrough that unifies quantum field theory and general relativity by 2035 - Improving the AI Physicist’s ability to produce scientifically sound, high-quality outputs in 2026 - Building new model architectures, multimodal data pipelines, and evaluation benchmarks for scientific reasoning - Expanding the research community through the Fellowship Program and open infrastructure ## Why Work Here - **Remote-first culture**: Fully remote, global collective – work from anywhere (roles listed as “Anywhere – Remote” or “Canada – Remote”) - **Mission-driven impact**: Contribute to one of the most ambitious scientific goals of our time, with work that goes directly into production - **Startup energy, non-profit purpose**: Fast-paced iteration, flat structure, and a builder mindset – “not a paper-only fellowship” - **Talent pool**: Team includes alumni from top institutions (Vector Institute, Amazon, IBM, etc.) and a strong emphasis on research and technical excellence - **Culture highlights**: Intellectual honesty, exploratory work, cross-disciplinary collaboration, and a focus on long-horizon problems ## Sources 1. [Greenhouse Job Board](https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/firstprinciples) 2. [Built In – FirstPrinciples Foundation Careers](https://builtin.com/company/firstprinciples-foundation) 3. [LinkedIn – FirstPrinciples Company Page](https://ca.linkedin.com/company/firstprinciplesfoundation) 4. [FirstPrinciples.org – Fellowship Announcement](https://www.firstprinciples.org/article/firstprinciples-launches-fellowship-program-for-researchers-in-ai-and-physics) ## Other roles at FirstPrinciples - [Strategic Partnerships Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/strategic-partnerships-manager-firstprinciples-canada-hcm1ptyz57fh) — Canada - [FirstPrinciples Research Fellow](https://feeny.ai/job/firstprinciples-research-fellow-firstprinciples-remote-6vf8fejc768d) - [Physicist, Theo Collaborators Program, Quantum Information](https://feeny.ai/job/physicist-theo-collaborators-program-quantum-information-firstprinciples-remote-pktvkh4h5wfn) - [Member of Technical Staff, Staff Physicist, Quantum Information and AI](https://feeny.ai/job/member-of-technical-staff-staff-physicist-quantum-information-and-ai-dhffbj3y57s4) - [Member of Technical Staff, Research](https://feeny.ai/job/member-of-technical-staff-research-firstprinciples-remote-h6ybxy10cam8) - [Member of Technical Staff, Engineering](https://feeny.ai/job/member-of-technical-staff-engineering-firstprinciples-ontario-27gmtrpxsem5) — Ontario, Canada