Applied Researcher I (AI Foundations, LLM Core and Agentic AI)

Discover Financial
New York, San Francisco, Virginia, Cambridge, San Jose
Workplace: OnsiteFull timeUSD 218,700 - 272,300 annuallyFunction: Research & Scientific (R&D)Experience: 2+ yearsEducation: phdSkills: ["Interpersonal skills","Translating complexity","Analytical mindset","Innovative thinking","Research leadership"]

Build and evaluate AI foundation models that power next-generation customer experiences. Partner with data scientists, software and machine learning engineers, and product managers to deliver AI-powered products. Use technologies like PyTorch, Hugging Face, Lightning, AWS Ultraclusters, and vector databases to conduct applied research across training, evaluation, validation, and implementation—translating technical work into measurable business outcomes.

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FursaFursa
Discover Financial
Discover Financial
1 day ago

Applied Researcher I (AI Foundations, LLM Core and Agentic AI)

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Last checked: 2 hours agoStatus: Live

Job Summary

Build and evaluate AI foundation models that power next-generation customer experiences. Partner with data scientists, software and machine learning engineers, and product managers to deliver AI-powered products. Use technologies like PyTorch, Hugging Face, Lightning, AWS Ultraclusters, and vector databases to conduct applied research across training, evaluation, validation, and implementation—translating technical work into measurable business outcomes.
Location: New York, San Francisco, Virginia, Cambridge, San Jose
Workplace: Onsite
Employment Type: Full time
Job Function: Research & Scientific (R&D)
Seniority: Mid level

Key Responsibilities

  • •Partner cross-functionally to deliver AI-powered products that change how customers interact with their money.
  • •Leverage a broad technology stack to analyze large volumes of numeric and textual data and surface insights.
  • •Build AI foundation models across design, training, evaluation, validation, and implementation phases.
  • •Conduct high-impact applied research to advance new AI developments into next-generation customer experiences.
  • •Communicate complex work and findings in ways that align to tangible business goals.

Pay and Benefits

Salary: USD 218,700 - 272,300 annually

Key Requirements

  • •PhD (or in the process of obtaining) in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, AI, Mathematics, or related fields (or an M.S. plus 2 years of applied research experience).
  • •Hands-on experience developing AI foundation models and solutions using open-source tools and cloud computing platforms.
  • •Deep understanding of AI methodology foundations, including experience building large deep learning models (e.g., training optimization, self-supervised learning, robustness, explainability, RLHF).
  • •Demonstrated ability to deliver models at scale across training data and inference volumes, with an engineering mindset.
  • •Ability to own and pursue a research agenda by selecting impactful research problems and running long-term projects.
Experience:2+ years
Education:PhD / Doctorate in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, AI, Mathematics, or related fields
Skills:Interpersonal skillsTranslating complexityAnalytical mindsetInnovative thinkingResearch leadership
Tech Stack:PyTorchAWSHuggingfaceLightningVectorDBsLLMNLPRLHFOpen-sourceCloud computing

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