Applied ML Research Lead, NLP, X’s Moonshot Specialized Professional Intelligence

About X

X is Alphabet’s moonshot factory with a mission of inventing and launching “moonshot” technologies that could someday make the world a radically better place. We are a diverse group of inventors and entrepreneurs who build and launch technologies that aim to improve the lives of millions, even billions, of people. Our goal: 10x impact on the world’s most intractable problems, not just 10% improvement.

We approach projects that have the aspiration and riskiness of research with the speed and ambition of a startup. As an innovation engine, X focuses on repeatedly turning breakthrough‑technology ideas into the foundations for large, sustainable businesses.

We’re a small, passionate and driven team of experienced ML researchers, software engineers and product leaders creating new AI capabilities for specialized professionals. Our moonshot is to radically transform how highly skilled professionals like lawyers, medical professionals or finance experts interact with information so they can harness AI’s productivity gains. As we scale support for our early customers in the legal space, we’re looking for people who are inspired to push the boundaries of what’s technically possible and shape a product from the ground up.

Our culture is one of mutual care and respect, individual excellence, teamwork and fun! Learn more about our moonshot here: (Use the "Apply for this Job" box below)./

As an Applied Research Engineering Lead, you will be responsible for building AI systems that can perform previously impossible tasks or achieve unprecedented levels of performance. We’re looking for people with solid engineering skills (e.g. designing, implementing, and improving models achieving specific tasks), writing bug‑free machine learning code, and building the science behind the algorithms employed.

• Act like an owner; be fearless in diving deep, asking questions, proposing solutions, establishing consensus and then making things happen.
• Work effectively with cross‑functional teams of engineers, product managers, and domain experts.
• Provide direction and focus in areas of high ambiguity.
• Enjoy mentoring others and helping the team grow.
• Become familiar with the team’s technical stack enough to make targeted contributions and move fast in the work of experimentation.
• Manage day‑to‑day execution of our research strategies.
• Prioritize the team’s work and manage projects to support fast iteration on research projects and runs.

• MSc or PhD degree in computer science, mathematics, applied stats, machine learning.
• 10+ years experience in NLP applied research and high‑performance implementations of machine learning algorithms and productionization.
• 4+ years of management experience in a research or technical environment, setting the pace of development.
• Track record in developing team culture, growing people and conducting applied research in NLP/LLMs.
• Deeply interested in the potential transformative effects of advanced AI systems and committed to ensuring their safe development.
• Excel at building strong relationships with stakeholders at all levels.
• Demonstrated ability to write high‑quality, maintainable code in Python (or equivalent languages) using sound software engineering principles.
• Achieved strong results with sophisticated model prompting, and with (at least one of) fine‑tuning or applying RL to large language models.
• Independent, mission‑driven, self‑starter attitude.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, e.g. design docs, PR descriptions.
• Ability to work in the Mountain View office at least 3 days per week to interface with researchers and engineering.

• Exposure to production systems that rely heavily on ML models, and/or experience with model deployment.
• Startup experience iterating fast and exploring multiple strategies to optimize performance.
• Passion for delighting users, but also extracting energy from both good and difficult feedback.
• Significant success with building AI software and systems for specific industries, either as research publications at top PL or ML venues,…