Research Program Evangelist - AI

We are establishing a product-adjacent research lab focused on advancing capabilities in Large Language. Models (LLMs) and Speech technologies (ASR, TTS). We are looking for a Research Program Evangelist who can define research direction, guide early-career researchers and engineers, and represent the lab externally with credibility and clarity.

This role is intentionally designed for senior technical professionals who may not have deep prior experience in LLMs or Speech, but who have successfully led complex, fast-evolving technical domains and can rapidly internalize new research areas. The role emphasizes judgment, learning velocity, and influence over hands-on implementation.

What You Will Do

• Own and evolve the research roadmap in close alignment with product priorities

• Translate product needs into clear, testable research problems

• Prioritize, sequence, and discontinue research initiatives based on impact and feasibility

• Delegate execution to a distributed research and engineering team and review outcomes through structured summaries

• Ensure research outcomes are relevant to real-world deployment constraints such as cost, latency, and scale

• Represent the research lab at selected industry, academic, and community forums

• Establish disciplined research practices and mentor early-career team members

What This Role Is Not

This is not a deep theoretical research position or a marketing-focused evangelism role. The emphasis is on research direction, delegation, and representation rather than day-to-day implementation.

Required Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience in software engineering, systems, applied research, or adjacent technical roles

• Demonstrated experience mentoring or guiding early-career engineers or researchers

• Strong written and verbal communication skills

• Experience operating in fast-paced, evolving technical environments

Preferred Experience

• Exposure to AI/ML systems, including LLMs or Speech technologies

• Familiarity with research workflows such as literature review, experimentation, and evaluation

• Experience presenting technical work at meetups, conferences, or academic forums

What We Look For

• Strong learning agility and the ability to quickly master unfamiliar technical domains

• Proven experience owning and driving complex technical programs end-to-end

• Sound technical judgment and comfort making decisions under uncertainty

• Clear and effective communication with both technical and non-technical stakeholders

• Experience working with distributed or cross-geography teams

Onboarding & Growth

The first 60–90 days will involve deep immersion into modern LLM and Speech research, internal systems, and product constraints. This role is ideal for individuals who are comfortable ramping up quickly and taking ownership early in ambiguous problem spaces.

Hiring Philosophy: We hire for judgment, learning velocity, and influence. Deep domain expertise is valued, but not a prerequisite.