About the Role

We are seeking an exceptional Lead Researcher to lead and scale a world-class AI research organization focused on advancing the state of the art in machine learning, large language models, and applied AI systems. This role is both strategic and hands-on, responsible for defining long-term research vision while actively contributing to breakthrough innovations that directly impact product and business outcomes.

As Head of Research, you will build, mentor, and manage a high-caliber team of researchers and research engineers, partner closely with executive leadership, and translate cutting-edge research into scalable, real-world systems.

Key Responsibilities

• Define and own the research vision and roadmap, aligned with company strategy and long-term goals
• Lead and grow a team of AI Researchers, Applied Scientists, and Research Engineers
• Drive innovation across areas such as:
  • Large Language Models (LLMs)
  • Reasoning and planning systems
  • Representation learning
  • Robustness, safety, and evaluation
  • Multimodal and agent-based systems
• Balance long-horizon exploratory research with near-term applied research that powers products
• Ensure research excellence through strong scientific rigor, reproducibility, and evaluation standards
• Collaborate with Product, Engineering, and Leadership to transition research into production
• Represent the company externally through publications, conferences, and industry engagement
• Establish best practices for research processes, tooling, and infrastructure
• Mentor senior researchers and develop future research leaders

Required Qualifications

• PhD in Computer Science, Machine Learning, AI, or a closely related field (or equivalent research experience)
• 0-7 years of experience in AI/ML research, with at least several years in a research role
• Proven track record of high-impact research contributions (top-tier conferences, journals, or widely adopted systems)
• Deep expertise in modern ML techniques, especially LLMs, deep learning, and foundation models
• Experience leading and scaling research teams in industry or advanced research labs
• Strong understanding of the tradeoffs between research innovation and production constraints
• Ability to communicate complex technical ideas clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience leading research at a top AI lab, FAANG company, or well-known AI startup
• Publications at leading venues (e.g., NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, ACL, EMNLP)
• Experience with model training at scale, including distributed systems and ML infrastructure
• Background in deploying research models into real-world products
• Prior experience influencing company-level technical strategy

What We Offer

• Base salary up to $500,000, plus competitive equity
• Opportunity to shape the future direction of cutting-edge AI research
• Access to significant compute and research resources
• Collaboration with elite engineers, researchers, and product leaders
• A culture that values deep thinking, experimentation, and long-term impact