Senior Research Scientist

Job Opportunity: Senior Research Scientist - AI/GenAI

NielsenIQ (NIQ) is seeking a highly skilled and innovative Senior Research Scientist to join our advanced AI/GenAI team in Chennai, TN. This role is pivotal in leading the design, experimentation, and implementation of state-of-the-art Generative AI services, bridging the gap between research and engineering to create scalable, production-ready solutions. Your expertise in Python, data pipelines, and AI/ML will be instrumental in shaping our AI-driven products.

Responsibilities:

• Lead research and development of GenAI models and services for real-world applications.
• Rapidly prototype and validate experimental approaches to assess feasibility and effectiveness.
• Serve as a technical mentor, guiding team members on best practices, architecture, and model development.
• Translate complex business requirements into clear research tasks and technical objectives.
• Design and implement robust data pipelines for large-scale AI/ML experimentation and deployment.
• Collaborate with ML engineers, data scientists, and product managers to define research goals and deliverables.
• Conduct rigorous experimentation, benchmarking, and evaluation of GenAI models, including LLMs and diffusion models.
• Stay current with the latest research in GenAI, NLP, and machine learning, applying findings to enhance model performance.
• Develop high-quality, maintainable Python code for research prototypes and production systems.
• Contribute to research publications in top-tier conferences and journals (optional).
• Support the deployment of GenAI services on cloud platforms, with a preference for Azure.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Machine Learning, or a related field.
• 5+ years of professional experience in AI/ML development, with a strong focus on NLP, generative AI, and vector search.
• Strong proficiency in Python, including hands-on experience with PyTorch, TensorFlow, Hugging Face Transformers, and LangChain.
• Deep understanding of machine learning fundamentals: deep learning, optimization, generative AI, NLP, LLMs, and Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG).
• Expertise in transformer-based models and embeddings (e.g., BERT, RoBERTa, GPT) and their real-world applications.
• Proficiency with vector databases and approximate nearest neighbor (ANN) search tools (e.g., FAISS, Milvus, Pinecone).
• Experience building and maintaining scalable data pipelines using tools like Pandas, Spark, or Airflow.
• Familiarity with SQL for data manipulation and analysis.
• Experience with cloud platforms (Azure preferred) and containerization technologies (Docker, Kubernetes).
• Excellent problem-solving skills, attention to detail, and a research-oriented mindset.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills for cross-functional teamwork.

Additional Information:

• Work on cutting-edge GenAI research with real-world impact.
• Join a collaborative, forward-thinking team at the forefront of AI innovation.
• Competitive salary and benefits package.
• Opportunities for continuous learning, research publication, and professional growth.

NIQ Benefits:

• Flexible working environment
• Volunteer time off
• LinkedIn Learning
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)