Senior Data Scientist - Artificial Intelligence R&D

## Senior Data Scientist - Artificial Intelligence R&DApplylocations:
Chicago, Illinois:
Peoria, Illinois time type:
Full time posted on:
Posted Todayjob requisition :
R
** Career Area:
** Technology, Digital and Data
*
* Job Description:

**** Your Work Shapes the World at Caterpillar Inc.
** When you join Caterpillar, you're joining a global team who cares not just about the work we do – but also about each other.  We are the makers, problem solvers, and future world builders who are creating stronger, more sustainable communities. We don't just talk about progress and innovation here – we make it happen, with our customers, where we work and live.

Together, we are building a better world, so we can all enjoy living in it.
* Cat Digital is the digital and technology arm of Caterpillar Inc., leveraging the latest technologies to build industry leading digital solutions for our customers and dealers. With over 1.5 million connected assets worldwide, our teams use data, technology, advanced analytics, telematics and AI capabilities to help our customers build a better, more sustainable world.
**
* Job Summary:

** Join the AI Research & Development team of Cat Digital and play a central role in advancing the frontier of applied AI for one of the world's largest industrial enterprises. As a Senior Data Scientist, you will design, build, and evaluate cutting-edge AI systems, spanning generative AI, large language models (LLMs), multimodal intelligence, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), and autonomous agents, delivering high-impact Proofs of Concept (POCs) with clear production intent while exploring longer-horizon research opportunities.
*
* What You Will Do:

*** Design and execute AI experiments across the full model lifecycle: hypothesis formulation, data preparation, model development, evaluation, and iteration, maintaining research rigor in an ambiguous, fast-moving environment.
* Develop, fine-tune, and benchmark LLMs and multimodal AI models (text, vision, speech), including systematic evaluation of quality, latency, cost, and safety tradeoffs across model variants and providers.
* Explore and optimize knowledge retrieval systems (RAG pipelines, vector databases, hybrid search) and agentic workflows, ensuring relevance, accuracy, and scalability for enterprise use cases.
* Lead data preparation work streams for model training, fine-tuning, and validation, including dataset curation, labeling strategy, synthetic data generation, and quality assurance.
* Instrument AI systems for observability and reproducibility using experiment tracking frameworks (e.g., Langfuse, MLflow), maintaining clear documentation of model versions, evaluation datasets, and performance baselines.
* Translate research findings into production-ready prototypes, collaborating with Engineering and Product teams to define technical requirements, integration paths, and deployment readiness criteria.
* Evaluate emerging AI capabilities and tools (open-source and commercial), providing structured assessments and recommendations to inform the team's technology strategy.
* Mentor and coach junior Data Scientists, establishing best practices for experimentation, model evaluation, and responsible AI development across the team.
* Communicate insights and results to technical and non-technical stakeholders, including product managers, engineers, and senior leadership, with clarity and business impact framing.
** What

You Will Have:

**
* ** Applied Statistics & Quantitative Methods:
** Experience applying statistical thinking to experimentation, evaluation, and decision‐making in ambiguous, research‐driven environments.
* ** Analytical Rigor & Attention to Detail:
** Proven ability to design precise experiments, validate assumptions, and ensure accuracy and reproducibility of results.
* ** Advanced Machine Learning & AI:
** Knowledge of modern ML techniques, including deep learning, generative AI, NLP, computer vision, and multimodal systems, with hands‐on implementation experience.
* ** Model Evaluation & Optimization:
** Strong experience evaluating model quality and system‐level tradeoffs across accuracy, latency, cost, and scalability dimensions.
* **…