Director AI R&D (f/m/d)
Aleph Alpha · Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- On site
- Full-time
- €150,000 / year
- Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Job highlights
- Lead AI R&D teams in foundation model development.
- Drive innovation in pre-training, post-training, and GenAI.
- Manage and grow researchers and engineers.
- Define and execute research and engineering scope.
- Foster a culture of autonomy and ownership.
About the role
About Aleph Alpha Research
Aleph Alpha Research's mission is to deliver category-defining AI innovation that enables open, accessible, and trustworthy deployment of GenAI in industrial applications. Our organization develops foundational models and next-generation methods that make it easy and affordable for Aleph Alpha’s customers to increase productivity in development, engineering, logistics, and manufacturing processes.
Role Overview
As a Director of AI R&D at Aleph Alpha, you will manage, co-own, and help drive engineering and science excellence across a major section of our large-scale foundation model development lifecycle. This includes areas such as pre-training, post-training, or dedicated capability-oriented R&D domains like explainability, controllability, or efficiency. You will contribute to defining and executing the research and engineering scope for your area, empowering highly autonomous teams to deliver world-class models and methods with scientific rigor, operational excellence, and organizational clarity.
Team Culture
At Aleph Alpha, we foster a culture built on ownership, autonomy, and empowerment. Teams and individual contributors are trusted to take responsibility for their work and drive meaningful impact. We maintain a flat organizational structure with efficient, supportive management that enables quick decision-making, open communication, and a strong sense of shared purpose.
Your Responsibilities
- Manage one or more AI R&D teams focusing on a model lifecycle stage (e.g., pretraining, post-training, or an exploratory research domain).
- Serve as a line manager responsible for the growth, motivation, and performance of researchers and engineers across various IC levels.
- Co-own the technical and scientific direction for your area — balancing mid-term exploration with near-term delivery.
- Uphold and propagate Aleph Alpha’s cultural principles of autonomy, ownership, and peer accountability.
- Partner with other Directors and Principal ICs to ensure architectural coherence, infrastructure readiness, and effective collaboration across R&D domains.
- Contribute technically to select work-streams (e.g., scaling and efficiency studies, reinforcement learning, evaluation pipelines, or capability alignment).
- Drive organizational efficiency - ensuring clear goals, minimal blockers, and consistent communication between teams and leadership.
- Represent your teams’ work within and outside Aleph Alpha, sharing insights and progress with internal stakeholders and the broader research community.
Your Profile
- Strong background in managing AI research or ML engineering teams engaged in model development, training, or optimization at scale.
- Proven technical expertise in one or more of the following: LLM pre-training (data and compute optimization), post-training (fine-tuning, reinforcement learning, evaluation), emerging GenAI research areas (e.g., safety, compute efficiency), or other areas of machine learning.
- Ability to nurture highly autonomous contributors while maintaining strategic coherence and scientific excellence.
- Experience translating research goals into clear, achievable execution plans.
- Excellent interpersonal skills and a collaborative mindset suited to a peer-driven, low-hierarchy environment.
- Skilled in balancing hands-on technical engagement with effective people and project leadership.
- Willingness to regularly work from our Heidelberg or Berlin hubs to collaborate closely with teams.
Preferred Qualifications
- Strong leadership mindset and skill that aligns well with the teal organization setup at Aleph Alpha.
- PhD or comparable research experience in machine learning, computer science, or related technical field.
- Record of contributions to state-of-the-art model training methods.
- Demonstrated success in building or scaling high-performing teams in a research-driven environment.
- Commitment to fostering team diversity and developing future technical leaders.
What We Offer
- Become part of an AI revolution!
- 30 days of paid vacation
- Access to a variety of fitness & wellness offerings via Wellhub
- Mental health support through nilo.health
- Substantially subsidized company pension plan for your future security
- Subsidized Germany-wide transportation ticket
- Budget for additional technical equipment
- Flexible working hours for better work-life balance and hybrid working model
- Virtual Stock Option Plan
- JobRad® Bike Lease
Key skills/competency
- AI Research
- Machine Learning Engineering
- Foundation Models
- LLM Pre-training
- LLM Post-training
- GenAI
- Team Management
- Technical Leadership
- Research Strategy
- ML Operations
Skills & topics
- Director AI R&D
- AI Research
- Machine Learning
- Foundation Models
- LLM
- GenAI
- Deep Learning
- Team Management
- Leadership
- R&D Management
- Python
- PyTorch
- TensorFlow
- Cloud Computing
- MLOps
- Heidelberg
- Berlin
- Germany
How to get hired
- Tailor your resume: Highlight AI R&D leadership and large-scale model development experience. Emphasize expertise in LLM pre-training, post-training, or GenAI research areas.
- Showcase leadership: Detail your experience managing research or ML engineering teams, focusing on nurturing autonomous contributors and driving scientific excellence.
- Align with culture: Demonstrate understanding of Aleph Alpha's principles of ownership, autonomy, and peer accountability in your application and interviews.
- Prepare for technical depth: Be ready to discuss your technical expertise in specific ML areas and your approach to translating research goals into execution plans.
- Research Aleph Alpha: Understand their mission and how your leadership can contribute to their AI revolution.
Technical preparation
Master large-scale model training techniques.,Prepare to discuss ML research and engineering strategy.,Demonstrate expertise in LLM pre/post-training.,Be ready to discuss AI safety and efficiency.
Behavioral questions
Describe leading autonomous AI research teams.,How do you balance research exploration and delivery?,How have you fostered a culture of ownership?,Share an example of driving organizational efficiency.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the primary focus of the Director AI R&D role at Aleph Alpha?
- The Director AI R&D role at Aleph Alpha focuses on leading and managing AI research and machine learning engineering teams involved in the development of large-scale foundation models. This includes overseeing stages like pre-training and post-training, as well as specialized research domains within generative AI.
- What are the key technical areas of expertise required for this position?
- Required technical expertise includes LLM pre-training (data and compute optimization), post-training (fine-tuning, reinforcement learning, evaluation), and emerging GenAI research areas such as safety and compute efficiency. A strong background in managing AI research or ML engineering teams at scale is also crucial.
- How does Aleph Alpha's team culture impact this role?
- Aleph Alpha fosters a culture of ownership, autonomy, and empowerment with a flat organizational structure. As a Director, you'll need to nurture highly autonomous contributors while maintaining strategic coherence and scientific excellence, aligning with these cultural principles.
- What is the expected level of technical contribution for the Director AI R&D?
- While primarily a leadership role, the Director AI R&D is expected to contribute technically to select work-streams. This could involve areas like scaling and efficiency studies, reinforcement learning, evaluation pipelines, or capability alignment, balancing hands-on engagement with people and project leadership.
- What is the work arrangement for this Director AI R&D position?
- This is a hybrid role. While Aleph Alpha offers flexible working hours and a hybrid working model, the role requires willingness to regularly work from their Heidelberg or Berlin hubs to collaborate closely with teams.
- What are the preferred qualifications for candidates applying for the Director AI R&D role?
- Preferred qualifications include a strong leadership mindset suited to a teal organization, a PhD or equivalent research experience in ML/CS, a record of contributions to state-of-the-art model training methods, and proven success in building/scaling high-performing research teams.
- How does Aleph Alpha support employee well-being and growth?
- Aleph Alpha offers comprehensive support including 30 days of paid vacation, fitness and wellness offerings via Wellhub, mental health support through nilo.health, a subsidized company pension plan, and opportunities for professional development.