Applied Scientist - Member of Sciences [Bay Area]

Member of Sciences - Founding Engineering Team

San Francisco Bay Area | Seattle | Hybrid

Company

NTT DATA AIVista, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of NTT DATA, is based in Silicon Valley. We develop AI products that operationalize AI across enterprises operating in complex regulatory environments. We partner with other NTT companies (NTT DATA Inc, NTT DATA Japan, NTT Docomo) to ensure successful deployment to NTT clients. Our clients benefit from AIVista’s deep product AI expertise combined with the industry domain and systems integration experience of NTT DATA.

Role Description

The Senior AI Applied Scientist is responsible for advancing the company’s core AI capabilities and translating cutting-edge research into production-grade systems. This role sits at the intersection of research, product, and platform engineering, delivering the scientific direction of our AI strategy while ensuring measurable business impact. You will work on ambiguous research initiatives, define technical bets, and work cross-functionally to operationalize AI into reliable, scalable, and governed enterprise solutions.

Responsibilities

• Execute the long-term AI research roadmap aligned with company strategy.

• Work on high-leverage research areas (e.g., LLMs, multimodal AI, agents, graphML, knowledge graphs, safety, neuro-symbolic reasoning, safety, alignment, evaluation).

• Implement novel algorithms, architectures, and approaches that create competitive advantage and drive the transition from experimental models to scalable production systems.

• Lead research publications, patents, and open-source contributions where strategically valuable.

• Partner with engineering to design model deployment, evaluation, monitoring, and continuous improvement loops.

• Ensure science is aligned with real customer problems and measurable outcomes.

• Evaluate emerging techniques, tools, and vendor ecosystems.

• Represent the company externally through conferences, publications, and partnerships.

• Champion safe, ethical, and governed AI practices.

• Develop frameworks for model evaluation, bias mitigation, and risk management.

Qualifications

· PhD in Computer Science, Machine Learning, AI, Mathematics, Physics, or related field (or equivalent industry impact).

· 5+ years in AI/ML, with significant experience applying science and research in production environments.

· Proven track record of impactful research (publications, patents, or shipped AI products).

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance

• 401(k) plan

• Company-funded HSA contribution

• Paid holidays and flexible PTO

The estimated base salary range for this role is $350,000-$450,000 USD. The salary for the successful applicant will depend on job-related factors such as education, training, work experience, business needs, and market demands. This range may be modified in the future. Total compensation also includes variable pay in the form of an annual target bonus and other cash incentives, with a combined potential of up to 100% of base salary.

NTT DATA AIVista is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, disability, genetic information, marital status, military or veteran status, reproductive health decisions, or any other characteristic protected under applicable federal, state, or local law.