Applied Researcher 4 (AI Foundations - LLM, Optimization and Finetuning)

Discover Financial
New York, Virginia, Cambridge, San Jose
Workplace: OnsiteFull timeUSD 238,600 - 272,300 annuallyFunction: Research & Scientific (R&D)Experience: 2+ yearsEducation: phdSkills: ["Research","Communication","Collaboration","Problem-solving","Leadership"]

Build and apply AI foundation models to improve how customers interact with their money, collaborating with data scientists, software and machine learning engineers, and product managers. Work across the full research lifecycle—design, training, evaluation, validation, and implementation—on large-scale LLMs. Use tools and platforms like PyTorch, AWS Ultraclusters, Hugging Face, and Lightning, and communicate results through technical reporting and publications.

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Discover Financial
Discover Financial
5 hours ago

Applied Researcher 4 (AI Foundations - LLM, Optimization and Finetuning)

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Last checked: 5 hours agoStatus: Live

Job Summary

Build and apply AI foundation models to improve how customers interact with their money, collaborating with data scientists, software and machine learning engineers, and product managers. Work across the full research lifecycle—design, training, evaluation, validation, and implementation—on large-scale LLMs. Use tools and platforms like PyTorch, AWS Ultraclusters, Hugging Face, and Lightning, and communicate results through technical reporting and publications.
Location: New York, Virginia, Cambridge, San Jose
Workplace: Onsite
Employment Type: Full time
Job Function: Research & Scientific (R&D)

Key Responsibilities

  • •Partner with cross-functional teams to deliver AI-powered products that change how customers interact with their money.
  • •Leverage technologies including PyTorch, AWS Ultraclusters, Hugging Face, and Lightning to extract insights from large volumes of numeric and textual data.
  • •Build AI foundation models across the full development lifecycle: design, training, evaluation, validation, and implementation.
  • •Conduct high-impact applied research that translates state-of-the-art AI developments into next-generation customer experiences.
  • •Translate research complexity into tangible business goals and collaborate with senior researchers on technical reports and conference submissions.

Pay and Benefits

Salary: USD 238,600 - 272,300 annually

Key Requirements

  • •Currently has, or is in the process of obtaining, a PhD in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, AI, Mathematics, or a related field (or an MS plus 2 years of applied research experience).
  • •Hands-on experience developing AI foundation models and solutions using open-source tools and cloud computing platforms.
  • •Experience building large deep learning models (e.g., language, images, events, or graphs) and expertise in areas such as training optimization, self-supervised learning, robustness, explainability, or RLHF.
  • •An engineering mindset with a track record of delivering models at scale for both training and inference volumes.
  • •A research record supported by accomplishments such as publications (e.g., first-author) or projects, plus the ability to own and pursue a research agenda.
Experience:2+ years
Education:PhD / Doctorate
Skills:ResearchCommunicationCollaborationProblem-solvingLeadership
Tech Stack:PyTorchAWS UltraclustersHuggingfaceLightningOpen-sourceCloud computingCompiler design

Eligibility

Work Authorization:Sponsorship available.

Company Brief

Discover Financial
Provides consumer banking products, credit cards, personal loans, and payment services through the Discover brand. It operates a major U.S. financial network and serves individuals and merchants with lending and digital payment solutions.
Industry: Retail Banking
Company Size: Enterprise (1,001+ employees)
Revenue: USD 10M to 25M
Growth: Public Company
Valuation: Public Company (Market Cap in USD)
Funding: IPO / Publicly Listed
Headquarters: Riverwoods, United States
Founded: 1985
WebsiteLinkedIn