Applied AI Researcher
United States
Job Description
Applied AI Researcher
Santa Clara,California

Job Summary

The Applied AI Researcher drives the technical vision and development of advanced AI systems, leading research on deep learning, generative AI, and large‑scale model optimization. The role combines hands‑on model building with MLOps excellence, ensuring scalable, production-ready AI solutions. You will mentor AI scientists and engineers, translate cutting‑edge research into real-world impact, and shape the long-term roadmap for high‑performance, innovative AI products.

Key Responsibilities

1. Technical Vision & Research Strategy

  • Set the Technical Roadmap: Define the multi-year research and engineering roadmap for the AI platform, prioritizing projects that solve critical, high-complexity technical challenges (e.g., model efficiency, interpretability, real-time inference).
  • Deep Learning & Modeling: Lead the team in designing, implementing, and optimizing advanced deep learning, generative AI, and reinforcement learning models from scratch, pushing the state-of-the-art for our domain.
  • Academic Translation: Monitor academic research and industry trends to identify and quickly prototype cutting-edge techniques suitable for production deployment.

2. MLOps & Production Engineering

  • MLOps Excellence: Establish and enforce best practices for Machine Learning Operations (MLOps), ensuring automation, reproducibility, version control, and CI/CD for all models.
  • Architecture Review: Personally review and approve the technical architecture for all deployed AI systems, ensuring they meet strict criteria for scalability, low latency, and fault tolerance.
  • Resource Optimization: Drive research into optimizing computational costs for large models, including strategies for model compression, quantization, and efficient hardware utilization.

3. Team Leadership & Technical Mentorship

  • Lead Technical Talent: Recruit, mentor, and manage a high-performing team of Applied AI Scientists, Machine Learning Engineers, and Researchers.
  • Culture of Rigor: Foster a technically demanding and research-driven culture, encouraging publication, patent filing, and open-source contributions.
  • Code Quality: Ensure all core AI codebases adhere to the highest standards of quality, documentation, and maintainability.

Skill Requirements

Required Qualifications

  • Hands-on experience in Machine Learning, Deep Learning, or AI Research, with a focus on building and deploying complex models and technical leadership experience managing a team of Data Scientists and ML Engineers.
  • Expert-level proficiency in core ML frameworks (PyTorch, TensorFlow) and data science languages (Python/R).
  • Experience building a commercial practice or product focused on Generative AI and Large Language Models (LLMs).
  • Demonstrated expertise in at least two major AI domains (e.g., Deep Learning, NLP, Computer Vision).
  • Proven track record of success in a client-facing or internal product-focused role, directly translating technical output into commercial results.
  • Deep practical knowledge of MLOps principles and experience with cloud-native ML services (Google Cloud Vertex AI, SageMaker, Azure ML).
  • Ph.D. or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Machine Learning, or a highly quantitative field, OR equivalent demonstrated technical leadership experience.

Technical / Functional Skills – Preferred Qualifications

  • A strong portfolio of research publications (ICML, NeurIPS, KDD, etc.) or patents related to applied AI.
  • Extensive experience with distributed computing frameworks (Spark, Ray) for large-scale model training and inference.
  • Proven ability to manage large-scale, complex AI initiatives end-to-end.

Other Requirements

Maximum Salary (US):  260000
Minimum Salary (US):  220000
Information at a Glance

Why HCLTech?

At HCLTech, you'll supercharge your potential. You'll find your career. And you'll find your spark. All at a place that knows that helping its customers stay on top starts by putting its people first.

HCLTech is a global technology company, home to more than 226,300 people across 60 countries, delivering industry-leading capabilities centered around digital, engineering, cloud and AI, powered by a broad portfolio of technology services and products. We work with clients across all major verticals, providing industry solutions for Financial Services, Manufacturing, Life Sciences and Healthcare, Technology and Services, Telecom and Media, Retail and CPG, and Public Services. Consolidated revenues as of 12 months ending December 2025 totaled $14.5 billion.

Compensation and Benefits

A candidate’s pay within the range will depend on their skills, experience, education, and other factors permitted by law. This role may also be eligible for performance-based bonuses subject to company policies. In addition, this role is eligible for the following benefits subject to company policies: medical, dental, vision, pharmacy, life, accidental death & dismemberment, and disability insurance; employee assistance program; 401(k) retirement plan; 10 days of paid time off per year (some positions are eligible for need-based leave with no designated number of leave days per year); and 10 paid holidays per year.