Lead Research Engineer – AI/NLP - $147,000 - $200,000 + 10% bonus
We are hiring a Lead Research Engineer to sit at the intersection of applied research, product strategy, and engineering execution. This is a role for someone who not only understands cutting-edge AI, but knows how to translate ideas into production-ready systems that solve real customer problems.
This opportunity is ideal for someone who has grown within an organisation over multiple years, understands the journey from prototype to scalable deployment, and can confidently guide product and leadership teams on what to build and how to deliver it.
Key responsibilities
- Lead research-to-production efforts in AI/Machine Learning, including RAG-based systems
- Work closely with product managers to identify high-impact opportunities
- Communicate complex concepts clearly to both engineering and executive teams
- Guide teams through experimentation, evaluation, and rapid delivery cycles
- Diagnose performance constraints and optimise models for real-world environments
- Mentor engineers and influence technical roadmaps across the organisation
- Bring new ideas and compelling proposals directly to leadership
Essential experience
- 8+ years in software engineering or AI/ML roles
- Deep experience in applied NLP/ML including Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG)
- Proven tenure delivering impact within a company (3+ years in at least one role)
- Successful transition of AI systems from prototype to production environments
- Strong leadership, including running workshops and shaping product strategy
- Ability to align research, engineering, and product stakeholders
- PhD in a relevant field or equivalent advanced commercial experience
Technical requirements
- Superior Python skills with modern ML/NLP ecosystems
- (e.g., PyTorch, JAX, NumPy, Pandas, scikit-learn, spaCy, SentenceTransformers)
- Empirical model evaluation, context engineering and scalable design expertise
- Cloud-native deployment (AWS/Azure) and DevOps familiarity
