Rainmaker Fellow, Machine Learning
El Segundo, CAFull-timePosted 2mo ago
About the role
The Rainmaker Machine Learning Fellowship is a paid, full-time research appointment for exceptional early-career researchers to work on scoped ML projects within Rainmaker's R&D team, using real sensor and operational data to develop baselines, models, and durable research artifacts.
Responsibilities
- Translate a scientific or operational question into a measurable ML problem.
- Build or improve the training and validation dataset needed for the project.
- Establish simple, reproducible baselines before introducing more complex models.
- Train, evaluate, and debug models using held-out weather events, regions, or operating conditions.
- Quantify calibration, uncertainty, generalization, failure modes, and sensitivity to missing or biased data.
- Work closely with atmospheric scientists to define useful targets, ground truth, physical constraints, and operational success criteria.
- Produce clear, reusable code and documentation.
- Present your results to Rainmaker's scientists, engineers, operators, and technical leadership.
- Deliver a final artifact such as a benchmark dataset, model, prototype product, evaluation report, or research paper.
Qualifications
- Current undergraduate, master's, or PhD students; postdoctoral researchers; recent graduates; and other early-career researchers are all eligible.
- Strong Python programming ability and experience with a modern ML framework.
- Evidence that you can independently build, test, and debug technical work.
- Strong quantitative reasoning and an ability to design credible experiments.
- Interest in noisy, sparse, multimodal, spatial, temporal, or physical data.
- Ability to make progress on ambiguous research problems while incorporating mentor feedback.
- Clear written and verbal communication.
- Availability for full-time, on-site work in El Segundo for the agreed appointment.
Skills
Required:Python programmingMachine learning
Benefits
- Full health coverage (medical, dental, and vision insurance)
- Lunch provided when working in-office and a fully stocked kitchenette
- Free EV charging at the HQ
Last updated Oct 23, 2026. Interested? Apply on the company site.
About Rainmaker
Make rain. Make snow. Make droughts end.
Rainmaker uses drone-based cloud seeding to increase rainfall, restore ecosystems, and fight drought. Learn how our scalable weather technology brings water to the West.
cloud seeding companyweather modificationdrone cloud seedingrainfall enhancementdrought solutions
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