Lead Applied Scientist

Lead / Senior Applied Scientist (NLP & Generative AI)

Location: Hybrid or Remote (U.S. / Canada)

Level: Senior–Lead IC (hands-on technical leadership)

About the Opportunity

My client is a globally respected, mission-driven technology company operating at massive scale, with products used daily by millions of professionals around the world. They are investing heavily in applied AI and are building a world-class research-to-production organization focused on turning cutting-edge NLP and Generative AI into real, customer-facing impact.

This team sits at the intersection of research, engineering, and product, not an internal R&D lab detached from reality. The work here directly shapes flagship products and influences how AI is deployed responsibly in high-stakes, real-world settings.

If you’re excited by applied research, ownership, and shipping meaningful AI systems (not just prototypes), this is a rare chance to do that with scale, resources, and long-term vision.

What You’ll Work On

As a Lead / Senior Applied Scientist, you’ll be a technical owner driving end-to-end AI solutions, from problem definition through production deployment. Your work will include:

* Designing and delivering NLP and Generative AI systems that power real products

* Building and improving information retrieval, RAG pipelines, LLM-based workflows, and evaluation frameworks

* Translating ambiguous product or customer needs into well-scoped ML problems

* Owning model development, experimentation, and optimization with a strong focus on quality, robustness, and measurable impact

* Partnering closely with product managers, engineers, and domain experts to ensure solutions are practical and scalable

* Acting as a technical leader and mentor, raising the bar for applied ML across the organization

* Contributing to longer-term AI strategy and helping define best practices for responsible, production-grade AI

This is a hands-on role. You’ll be writing code, running experiments, and making architectural decisions while also influencing direction and standards.

What They’re Looking For

They’re looking for someone who combines deep technical strength with strong applied instincts:

* Strong background in machine learning, NLP, and/or Generative AI

* Experience working with LLMs, retrieval systems, ranking, or search

* Comfortable taking models from concept → experiment → production

* Experience designing evaluation metrics and experiments for complex ML systems

* Strong Python skills and experience with modern ML tooling and frameworks

* Ability to communicate clearly across technical and non-technical stakeholders

* Prior experience in an applied research or product-focused ML team is a big plus

A PhD or research background is valued, but practical impact and ownership matter just as much.

Why This Role Is Compelling

* Real impact: Your work ships and is used at scale

* Serious AI investment: Long-term commitment to applied AI, not a side project

* High-caliber peers: You’ll work alongside strong scientists and engineers

* Autonomy + support: Ownership without chaos

* Stability with ambition: Big problems, big data, and the resources to do it right