Research AI Director (AI)

TL;DR

Research AI Director (AI): Shaping and executing the AI research strategy for a deep-tech company with an accent on LLM development, model compression, and applied AI research. Focus on leading a multidisciplinary research organization, bridging academic rigor with industrial product delivery, and driving innovation in foundation models.

Location: Must be based in or able to relocate to San Sebastian, Spain (Hybrid role).

Company

hirify.global is a fast-growing deep-tech company and the largest quantum software firm in the EU, recognized for its groundbreaking AI and quantum-inspired optimization solutions.

What you will do

• Define and own the multi-year AI research roadmap, including foundation models, model compression, and alignment.
• Lead, mentor, and scale a diverse organization of researchers, ML engineers, and applied scientists.
• Oversee the end-to-end LLM development lifecycle from research prototypes to scalable production systems.
• Represent the company at top-tier international scientific conferences and advisory forums.
• Collaborate with Product, Engineering, and Business Development to ensure research outputs are commercially relevant.
• Manage external collaborations, including university partnerships and EU-funded research projects.

Requirements

• PhD in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Mathematics, or a related field.
• Strong peer-reviewed publication record in top AI/ML venues (NeurIPS, ICML, ACL, ICLR, etc.).
• 8+ years of post-doctoral or industry research experience, with 2+ years in a senior leadership role.
• Deep expertise in LLM development, including pretraining, fine-tuning, RLHF/DPO, and large-scale deployment.
• Hands-on experience with distributed training infrastructure (multi-GPU/multi-node) and frameworks like Megatron-LM or DeepSpeed.
• Proven track record of managing and scaling AI research teams in both academic and commercial environments.

Nice to have

• Familiarity with quantum computing, tensor networks, or quantum-inspired optimization.
• Experience securing competitive research funding (e.g., EU Horizon).
• Background in advising enterprise clients on AI research strategy.

Culture & Benefits

• Indefinite contract with equal pay guarantee.
• Performance-based bonuses and signing bonus.
• Work visa sponsorship and relocation package available.
• Private health insurance and educational budget.
• Hybrid work environment with flexible hours.
• Language classes and discounted lunch options.