Machine Learning Scientist

Staff Machine Learning Scientist – AI Agent product at Zendesk

The Agentic Tribe is revolutionizing chatbot and voice assistance with Gen3, a goal-oriented AI Agent system capable of reasoning, planning, and adapting in real-time. We are hiring a Staff Machine Learning Scientist to own a product area and bridge cutting‑edge ML research with real‑world impact.

• Design and test novel AI solutions for real business problems.
• Own full research projects end‑to‑end – from business requirement gathering, design, implementation, experimentation, to reporting.
• Regularly discuss ideas with the research team and provide peer review of colleagues’ work.
• Stay current in NLP and ML fields, introduce new concepts as potential solutions to our business problems.
• Collaborate with AI engineers to implement designs into production.
• Use suitable tools and technologies for rapid prototype development and hypothesis testing while considering future production needs.
• Work closely with product managers and non‑technical stakeholders to discover product roadmap.

• Degree in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Statistics, Engineering, Mathematics, or related field.
• Proven record in machine learning or NLP research, ideally in industry.
• Knowledge of building deep‑learning neural network architectures, preferably with an NLP focus.
• Ability to implement research ideas into proof‑of‑concept models.
• Practical approach to researching ML solutions for business problems.
• Bonus: experience with LLMs, Prompt Engineering, AI Agent Context Management.
• Ideally: experience with conversational AI and voice technologies, including text‑to‑speech (TTS) and speech‑to‑speech (STS).
• Positive, proactive team player passionate about craft, eager to contribute to product discussions, and committed to team delivery.
• Excellent communication skills and fluency in English.

• Alignment of work with the overall product roadmap and strategic goals.
• Effectiveness in collaborating with product managers, engineers, designers, and other stakeholders.
• Discovery and ideation – ability to identify new opportunities, prioritize, and champion ideas.

• Initial Call with Talent Team – 15 minutes.
• Interview with a member of the Hiring Team – 45 minutes.
• Take‑home technical/research challenge.
• Technical interview with two scientists – 1 hour.
• Final interview with a senior leader (CTO or Engineering Manager/Director) – 45 minutes.

Zendesk builds software for better customer relationships, empowering organizations to improve engagement and understand customers. We have over 100,000 paid customer accounts in more than 150 countries. Zendesk is an equal‑opportunity employer. Individuals seeking employment at Zendesk are considered without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, medical condition, ancestry, disability, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

By submitting your application, you agree that Zendesk may collect your personal data for recruiting, global organization planning, and related purposes. Zendesk’s Candidate Privacy Notice explains what personal information Zendesk may process, where it may process your personal information, its purposes for processing, and the rights you can exercise over Zendesk’s use of your personal information.