AI Research Lead

AI Research Lead

Perplexity is seeking an exceptional AI Research Tech Lead to drive our research strategy and lead the development of our in-house Online LLMs, the Sonar models. In this leadership role, you will set the macro research direction across different modalities, mentor a team of researchers, and take advantage of our rich query/answer dataset to continue scaling our Sonar model performance and deliver the SOTA Online LLM experience to our users.

Responsibilities

Research Leadership & Strategy

• Define and execute the macro research direction across multiple modalities, including post-training LLMs for agent trajectories and future mid-training initiatives
• Lead strategic research planning and roadmap development to advance Sonar model capabilities
• Drive innovation in supervised and reinforcement learning techniques for query answering
• Collaborate with leadership to align research priorities with product and business objectives

Team Development & Mentorship

• Coach and mentor a team of AI research scientists and engineers, fostering their technical and professional growth
• Establish the long-term macro research direction across the team, including our direction across different modalities
• Lead hiring and onboarding of new research talent
• Create a collaborative environment that encourages knowledge sharing and innovation

Technical Excellence

• Post-train SOTA LLMs on query answering using cutting-edge supervised and reinforcement learning techniques
• Own and optimize the full stack data, training, and evaluation pipelines required for LLM post-training
• Deliver Sonar models that provide SOTA query answering performance
• Drive research into agent trajectories and multi-modal capabilities
• Lead the technical roadmap for eventual mid-training investments

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Work closely with engineering teams to integrate Sonar models into our product
• Partner with product teams to understand user needs and translate them into research priorities
• Collaborate with data teams to leverage our unique query/answer dataset effectively
• Communicate research progress and findings to stakeholders across the organization

Qualifications

Required

• Minimum of 5 years of experience working on relevant AI/ML projects with 3+ years in a technical leadership role
• Proven track record of leading and mentoring technical and research teams
• A Computer Science graduate degree at a premier academic institution
• Deep expertise with large-scale LLMs and Deep Learning systems
• Strong programming skills with versatility across multiple languages and frameworks
• Demonstrated ability to set technical vision and drive execution
• Experience with pre-training and post-training techniques (self-supervised learning along with SFT/DPO/GRPO/PPO)
• Self-starter with exceptional ownership mentality and ability to work in ambiguous environments
• Passion for solving challenging problems and pushing the boundaries of AI research

Nice-to-have

• PhD in Machine Learning, Computer Science, or related areas
• Experience with agent-based AI systems and multi-modal model development
• Background in mid-training or pre-training of large language models
• Publications in top-tier AI/ML conferences
• Experience in fast-paced startup environments
• Track record of translating research into production systems

Compensation Range

$300K - $485K

Key skills/competency

• AI Research Leadership
• LLM Development
• Sonar Models
• Deep Learning Systems
• Supervised Learning
• Reinforcement Learning
• Agent Trajectories
• Multi-modal Capabilities
• Technical Vision
• Research Strategy