Company Description

Block is one company built from many blocks, all united by the same purpose of economic empowerment. The blocks that form our foundational teams — People, Finance, Counsel, Hardware, Information Security, Platform Infrastructure Engineering, and more — provide support and guidance at the corporate level. They work across business groups and around the globe, spanning time zones and disciplines to develop inclusive People policies, forecast finances, give legal counsel, safeguard systems, nurture new initiatives, and more. Every challenge creates possibilities, and we need different perspectives to see them all. Bring yours to Block.

Job Description

Dessa specializes in audacious deep learning moonshots at Block. We choose projects that are impactful and transformative, not projects that are incremental improvements over the status quo. We have a strong focus on open source and are committed to sharing our work. Our mission is to push the boundaries of what’s possible with AI in order to benefit humanity.

We are seeking a Deep Learning Research Scientist who is passionate about expanding the limits of deep learning capabilities. As a Research Scientist at Dessa, you will create novel deep learning systems with the capability to perform tasks that were once considered unattainable.  You will be fully remote and report into our Dessa AI Research Lead.

You Will:

• Help design and develop novel generative AI systems within Block
• Develop new ideas to improve existing deep learning systems
• Advance the research agenda of the team by building deep learning systems
• Create things that will be open to the world, allowing you to share your work with a global community through open source

Qualifications

You Have:

• Minimum master’s degree in Computer Science or other quantitative fields; or equivalent experience working in an AI research lab
• Proven track record of publications in the field of deep learning
• 5+ years of hands on deep learning experience
• Strong background in deep learning theory and techniques, with hands-on experience in developing and training neural networks using frameworks such as PyTorch, JAX or TensorFlow
• Experience writing performant code and implementing high-performance deep learning algorithms
• Proficiency with Python
• Experience utilizing theoretical and empirical research to solve problems

We are excited about individuals who have made notable contributions in the following areas:

• LLMs
• Audio/Image/Video generation
• Multimodal models
• Agents/RAGs 
• CUDA

Additional Information

Block takes a market-based approach to pay, and pay may vary depending on your location. Canada locations are categorized into one of two zones based on a cost of labor index for that geographic area. The successful candidate’s starting pay will be determined based on job-related skills, experience, qualifications, work location, and market conditions. These ranges may be modified in the future.

Zone A: CAD $222,900 - CAD $334,300
Zone B: CAD $215,300 - CAD $322,900

To find a location’s zone designation, please refer to this resource.

We have listed some of our common hiring locations. Depending on the cost of labor in the relevant geographic area, state work locations that are approximately 50 Kilometers outside of the metro area listed may be aligned to a different zone. These zones may be modified in the future.  Please speak with a recruiter for additional information.

US and Canada EEOC Statement

We’re working to build a more inclusive economy where our customers have equal access to opportunity, and we strive to live by these same values in building our workplace. Block is a proud equal opportunity employer. We work hard to evaluate all employees and job applicants consistently, without regard to race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, disability, pregnancy, gender expression or identity, sexual orientation, citizenship, or any other legally protected class. 

We believe in being fair, and are committed to an inclusive interview experience, including providing reasonable accommodations to disabled applicants throughout the recruitment process. We encourage applicants to share any needed accommodations with their recruiter, who will treat these requests as confidentially as possible. Want to learn more about what we’re doing to build a workplace that is fair and square? Check out our I+D page.

Additionally, we consider qualified applicants with criminal histories for employment on our team, and always assess candidates on an individualized basis.

Perks

We want you to be well and thrive. Our global benefits package includes:

• Healthcare coverage
• Retirement Plans
• Employee Stock Purchase Program
• Wellness perks
• Paid parental leave
• Paid time off
• Learning and Development resources

We’ve noticed a rise in recruiting impersonations across the industry, where individuals are sending fake job offer emails. Contact from any of our recruiters or employees will always come from an email address ending with @block.xyz, @squareup.com, @tidal.com, or @afterpay.com, @clearpay.co.uk.

Block, Inc. (NYSE: SQ) is a global technology company with a focus on financial services. Made up of Square, Cash App, Spiral, TIDAL, and TBD, we build tools to help more people access the economy. Square helps sellers run and grow their businesses with its integrated ecosystem of commerce solutions, business software, and banking services. With Cash App, anyone can easily send, spend, or invest their money in stocks or Bitcoin. Spiral (formerly Square Crypto) builds and funds free, open-source Bitcoin projects. Artists use TIDAL to help them succeed as entrepreneurs and connect more deeply with fans. TBD is building an open developer platform to make it easier to access Bitcoin and other blockchain technologies without having to go through an institution.