VP of Research (AI)

TL;DR

VP of Research (AI): Defining the intelligence and research direction for a proactive AI system with an accent on reasoning, memory, planning, and long-term context orchestration. Focus on building real-world machine learning systems, designing evaluation frameworks for robustness, and shipping high-quality production-grade AI intelligence.

Location: Must be based in or able to commute to Palo Alto, California

Company

hirify.global is a high-density, hands-on team building proactive AI systems designed to bring practical benefits to billions of users globally.

What you will do

• Set the research direction for core AI intelligence including memory, reasoning, and multi-agent orchestration.
• Design and implement evaluation frameworks that measure real-world usefulness, safety, and robustness.
• Decide on architectural strategies including model adaptation, distillation, and mixture-of-experts.
• Own the alignment, safety, and guardrail strategy for the product.
• Shape product intelligence in close collaboration with engineering teams.
• Establish high technical standards for research rigor and judgment across the organization.

Requirements

• Deep experience building or evolving real machine learning systems for production environments.
• Strong technical judgment concerning model behavior, failure modes, and long-horizon trade-offs.
• Builder mindset focused on functional real-world systems.
• Ability to make high-impact decisions with incomplete information.
• High ownership mentality operating with a founder-like approach.
• Proficiency in Python and deep learning frameworks like PyTorch or JAX.

Culture & Benefits

• Work within a small, world-class team with high talent density.
• Rapid decision-making environment with a focus on speed and shipping high-quality work.
• Hands-on technical culture that values transparency, efficiency, and collective judgment.
• Opportunity to build magical, globally impactful AI products.

Hiring process

• Initial evaluation by the technical team.
• 3 to 4 virtual or onsite interviews.
• Prompt decision-making process.