About the team
The Applied Science AQ/EQ (Action/Emotion Quotient ) Foundation team at Zillow is at the forefront of advancing intelligent systems that empower millions of customers for their home shopping journey. Our mission is to build cutting-edge models and agentic workflows that can provide actionable recommendations and execute tasks on behalf of users during one of the most complex and high-stakes financial decisions of their lives. We leverage Zillow’s vast, unique and domain-specific datasets to design adaptive AI systems that integrate with expert workflows and reduce the stress of the home-buying journey.About the role
As a PhD Research Intern on the AQ/EQ Foundation team, you will conduct state-of-the-art research in foundational models and building agentic AI systems. You will focus on fine-tuning and reinforcement learning of large language models (LLMs), with an emphasis on customizing them for Zillow’s domain. You’ll also explore the design of automated, agentic workflows that allow intelligent systems to reason, plan, and act in ways that directly improve the home-buying experience. This role offers the opportunity to collaborate with applied scientists, engineers, and product leaders while pushing the boundaries of personalization and intelligent automation. You'll design training algorithms and therefore the improved agentic AI workflow will be shipped to various Zillow Agentic Skills to power the integrated Zillow Copilot experience, which is a rare opportunity to transform the real estate industry.
Responsibilities include:
Researching and developing techniques for fine-tuning LLMs with domain-specific data
Applying reinforcement learning to optimize model performance for user-centric outcome
Designing and prototyping agentic workflows that can autonomously perform tasks and assist home buyers
Collaborating with cross-functional teams to evaluate and deploy research prototypes
Sharing insights through presentations, documentation, and potentially publications
Who you are
Currently enrolled in a PhD program in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, or a related field with a strong publication record
Candidates should have a background in one or more of the following areas:
Advanced research in natural language processing (NLP) and/or reinforcement learning (RL)
Practical experience fine-tuning and adapting large language models (LLMs) for specific use cases
Familiarity with the design and implementation of automated/ agentic workflows
Deep understanding of LLMs, hands on experience of post-training with the most popular OSS models
Proficiency in Python and modern ML frameworks (e.g., PyTorch, TensorFlow)
Excited about applying advanced AI methods to impactful, real-world problems
Strong communication skills and ability to work collaboratively in a multidisciplinary environment
Strong research mindset, with motivation to publish
Here at Zillow - we value the experience and perspective of candidates with non-traditional backgrounds. We encourage you to apply if you have transferable skills or related experiences.
Get to know us
At Zillow, we’re reimagining how people move—through the real estate market and through their careers. As the most-visited real estate platform in the U.S., we help customers navigate buying, selling, financing and renting with greater ease and confidence. Whether you're working in tech, sales, operations, or design, you’ll be part of a company that's reshaping an industry and helping more people make home a reality.
Zillow is honored to be recognized among the best workplaces in the country. Zillow was named one of and included on the list, reflecting our commitment to creating an innovative, inclusive, and engaging culture where employees are empowered to grow.
No matter where you sit in the organization, your work will help drive innovation, support our customers, and move the industry—and your career—forward, together.
AI Applied Scientist - PhD Intern, Foundational AQ & EQ • USA,Remote
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