Applied Research - Team Lead

About Firsthand

Firsthand has built the first AI-powered Brand Agent platform, transforming the way marketers and publishers engage consumers through their own AI agents, anywhere online.

While most AI applications in marketing and advertising focus on back-office automation, the Firsthand Brand Agent Platform™ powers front-line consumer engagement. Operating across both owned properties and paid media, Firsthand's Brand Agents make a company’s expertise accessible in real time, adapting to consumers’ interests and guiding them towards the information they need to take action. Central to the platform is Lakebed™, the company’s AI-first data and knowledge rights management system that ensures brands retain full ownership and control of their expertise.

Firsthand is led by Jon Heller, Michael Rubenstein, and Wei Wei, whose previous ventures helped build the foundations of modern digital advertising. Backed by Radical Ventures, First Mark Capital, Aperiam Ventures, and Crossbeam Venture Partners, Firsthand is shaping the future of AI-driven consumer engagement.

Firsthand is headquartered in NYC, with team members working together in-office three days a week.

About the Role

We are seeking an AI Leader to drive our product's AI and agent capabilities. You will lead a lean team of applied researchers while working closely with engineering and product teams to translate research into production-ready AI agents. This is a hands‑on role — we need a doer who thrives in a startup environment with a high degree of freedom and ambiguity.

This role is hybrid (3 days/week in office), with a strong preference for candidates based in New York.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead the research, development, and deployment of AI agents for our production systems.

• Collaborate closely with engineering and product teams to integrate AI capabilities into the product experience.

• Drive the full life‑cycle of AI systems from conception through deployment, including building robust evaluation frameworks to measure and improve agent performance.

• Stay at the forefront of AI by exploring the latest advancements in agents, evals, and applied AI research.

• Provide strategic direction and mentorship while contributing directly to prototyping, building, and iterating on AI systems.

Who You Are:

• 5+ years of professional experience in AI, with leadership experience.

• Deep understanding of software engineering principles and proficiency in Python, AI frameworks, and modern tooling for agents and evals. Experience with deep learning and reinforcement learning is a plus.

• Hands‑on builder who takes ownership and drives projects to completion.

• Extensive experience shipping AI systems in production, particularly agents and LLM‑powered applications.

• Strong communicator who works well cross‑functionally with engineering and product teams.

• Advertising or marketing‑related experience is a strong plus.

If you are ready to embark on an exhilarating journey at the forefront of AI, seize this incredible opportunity and apply here. We eagerly anticipate hearing from you!

Note:

Compensation and equity will be market‑competitive for well‑capitalized, early stage startups and will be discussed during the interview process.