USADirector, AI Forward Deployed Researcher
3 нед. назад
211k–264k USD / yearUSADirectorRemote
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Strategic leader and advanced AI research specialist managing high-value client implementations for .
О компании
- Welcome to - where innovation drives impact at a global scale. As an award-winning digital product consultancy and the digital division of TELUS , one of Canada’s largest telecommunications providers, we design and deliver transformative customer experiences through cutting-edge technology, agile thinking, and a people-first culture. With a global team across North America, South America, Central America, Europe, and APAC, we offer end-to-end expertise across eight core service areas: Digital Product Consulting, Digital Marketing Services, Data & AI, Strategy Consulting, Enterprise Technology, Enterprise Applications, Cloud Engineering, and QA & Test Engineering. From mobile apps and websites to voice UI, chatbots, AI, customer service, and in-store solutions, TELUS D
Обязанности
- The Director, Forward Deployed Researcher is a strategic leader, advanced AI research specialist, and manager who directly oversees and engages in the highest-value client implementations. This role is responsible for driving frontier AI research into production, setting the strategic technical direction for enterprise clients, and managing a team of Forward Deployed Researchers and Engineers. This role operates at the critical intersection of cutting-edge research, software engineering, executive-level strategic consulting, and team management
- As a Forward Deployed Researcher, Director, you will embed directly within Fortune 500 and highly regulated client organizations to advance frontier AI implementations, shape AI strategy, deliver bespoke production systems, and build world-class technical teams. Unlike traditional research leaders who remain in labs or remote environments, you will be embedded within client teams, walking the halls of banks, healthcare organizations, and tech companies to understand their unique challenges, conduct applied research, and lead the delivery of transformative AI solutions grounded in both frontier techniques and practical enterprise constraints.
Будет плюсом
- Advanced degree (MS/PhD in Computer Science, AI/ML, or related field)
- Experience at AI platform/research companies (Anthropic, OpenAI, Palantir, Scale AI, Cohere, etc.) in research, Forward Deployed, or leadership roles
- Experience at top-tier consulting firms (McKinsey, Bain, Deloitte) in technical or engineering leadership roles
- Published technical work or recognized AI/ML expertise, contributing to thought leadership and industry recognition
- Prior work in regulated industries (financial services, healthcare) with compliance requirements and enterprise complexity
- Track record of mentoring engineers and building high-performing teams
- Computer vision and/or data annotation platform expertise
- Multilingual capabilities for global client engagement
- Open-source contributions or active participation in the AI research community
- Experience building bespoke solutions vs. configuring off-the-shelf products
Условия
- Executive leadership role overseeing cutting-edge AI research and implementations with Fortune 500 enterprises
- Opportunity to build and scale a world-class Forward Deployed team
- Exposure to diverse industries, use cases, and frontier technical challenges
- Direct impact on client success, growth, and AI industry advancement
- Collaboration with world-class AI researchers, engineers, and thought leaders
- Professional development in AI research, consulting, and executive leadership
- Opportunity to contribute to thought leadership (publications, presentations, open-source)
- Competitive compensation with performance bonuses
- Comprehensive benefits package
- Remote flexibility with meaningful client engagement
- Equal Opportunity Employer
- At , we are proud to be an equal opportunity employer and are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace. All aspects of employment, including the decision to hire and promote, are based on applicants’ qualifications, merits, competence and performance without regard to any characteristic related to diversity.
- We will only use the information you provide to process your application and to produce tracking statistics. Since we do not request personal data deemed sensitive, we ask you to abstain from sharing that information with us.
- For more information on how we use your information, see our Privacy Policy .
Другое
- This role can operate remotely within the US (we are prioritizing candidates based on the US West Coast) OR be based out of one of our major US office locations - Charlottesville, VA, Durham, NC, Columbus, OH, or Boston, MA.
- Act as a trusted technical and research advisor to client executive leadership (CTOs, Heads of AI, VPs of Engineering, Board Members) on overall AI strategy, roadmap, and competitive positioning
- Translate frontier AI research and complex technical concepts into actionable business strategies and implementation plans that justify premium engagement and drive measurable ROI
- Shape client understanding of what constitutes "production-ready," "scalable," and "competitive" AI systems within regulated industries
- Conduct market and technical landscape analysis to inform client AI strategy and identify emerging opportunities
- Provide thought leadership on AI best practices, emerging technologies, research trends, and industry benchmarks
- Identify opportunities for AI adoption, value creation, and competitive advantage within client organizations
- Mentor client AI leadership teams on research methodologies, experimentation, and validation practices
- Manage, mentor, and scale a team of Forward Deployed Researchers and Engineers embedded at high-value client organizations
- Oversee the development and delivery of bespoke, research-backed production systems across multiple, concurrent client engagements
- Establish best practices, technical frameworks, methodologies, and accelerators for the team that benefit multiple clients and scale across
- Recruit, develop, and retain top-tier Forward Deployed talent; create career development pathways and technical competency frameworks
- Serve as an internal thought leader, sharing research insights, lessons learned, and best practices across the Forward Deployed Engineer community
- Mentor junior Forward Deployed Engineers and Solutions Engineers on technical, consulting, and leadership skills
- Foster a culture of innovation, client-centricity, continuous improvement, and technical excellence within the team
- Establish metrics, KPIs, and performance management systems for team success and client impact
- Lead high-impact, applied AI research initiatives to address the client’s most complex and ambiguous challenges during 3-6 month+ onsite engagements
- Design and implement advanced GenAI/LLM solutions (e.g., advanced RAG, multi-agent systems, custom fine-tuning, synthetic data generation, RLHF) tailored to clients’ unique requirements and constraints
- Build production-ready AI systems addressing data quality, evaluation, governance, and deployment challenges in regulated environments
- Conduct frontier AI experiments (novel architectures, training methodologies, evaluation frameworks) with direct applicability to client use cases
- Ensure all production systems meet stringent security, compliance, performance, and scalability requirements for Fortune 500 and highly regulated clients
- Integrate capabilities with client infrastructure, data platforms, and workflows
- Architect systems that the client can operate and evolve long-term with reduced dependency on external support
- Own end-to-end delivery from discovery, research, and validation through production deployment and optimization
- Partner with Product, Engineering, and Research teams to leverage platform capabilities and inform product roadmap based on client research insights
- Collaborate with Sales and Account teams on opportunity expansion, account strategy, and client success
- Represent client voice internally to drive product, service, and research improvements
- Participate in analyst relations and thought leadership initiatives to elevate 's market position
- Work with other Forward Deployed Directors and Engineers to share learnings and establish organizational best practices
- Stay at the frontier of AI models, frameworks, and deployment patterns; maintain hands-on expertise in cutting-edge areas
- Experiment with emerging AI technologies and assess applicability to client challenges and competitive positioning
- Publish or present technical work, contributing to 's thought leadership and industry recognition
- Build and maintain expertise in frontier areas (LLMs, multimodal AI, agentic systems, synthetic data, RLHF, evaluation frameworks, etc.)
- Document technical approaches, architectures, research methodologies, and lessons learned
- Contribute to open-source projects or 's technical community
- 10+ years of hands-on software engineering and AI/ML experience with production systems
- 4+ years in senior leadership or management roles managing technical teams of at least 5+ professionals (e.g., managing Forward Deployed Engineers, Solution Engineers, or Research teams)
- Proven ability to serve as a strategic advisor and technical authority to C-level stakeholders
- Deep expertise in frontier GenAI/LLMs, including: RAG systems and vector databases
- Agentic AI and multi-agent systems
- Fine-tuning, prompt engineering, and in-context learning
- Evaluation frameworks and metrics for LLM systems
- Production MLOps and deployment
- Hands-on proficiency with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP) and modern AI/ML frameworks (PyTorch, TensorFlow, LangChain, Hugging Face)
- Proven track record of success in ambiguous, complex environments with a high degree of autonomy
- Excellent communication skills across technical, research, and executive audiences
- Self-directed and resourceful, comfortable operating independently at client sites and leading without direct authority
- Client-centric mindset with the ability to build trust and credibility quickly with C-level stakeholders
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, AI/ML, or related field
- Successfully embedded at assigned client account(s)
- Built trust and credibility with the client's technical and executive leadership
- Conducted discovery and scoped research initiatives aligned with client strategy
- Established team structure, processes, and success metrics for the Forward Deployed team
- Delivered initial research insights, POC, or quick wins demonstrating value
- Established a clear research roadmap and delivery milestones
- Delivered production AI system(s) informed by applied research, driving measurable client business outcomes
- Client views as an indispensable technical and research partner
- Identified and scoped additional research and implementation opportunities within client organization(s)
- Mentored client AI teams and Forward Deployed team members, building their research and production capabilities
- Contributed technical and research insights that influenced product/service offerings