Senior Machine Learning Engineer

Founded in 2012, H2O.ai is on a mission to democratize AI. As the world’s leading agentic AI company, H2O.ai converges Generative and Predictive AI to help enterprises and public sector agencies develop purpose-built GenAI applications on their private data. Its open-source technology is trusted by over 20,000 organizations worldwide - including more than half of the Fortune 500 - H2O.ai powers AI transformation for companies like AT&T, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Singtel, Chipotle, Workday, Progressive Insurance, and NIH.

H2O.ai partners include Dell Technologies, Deloitte, Ernst & Young (EY), NVIDIA, Snowflake, AWS, Google Cloud Platform (GCP) and VAST. H2O.ai’s AI for Good program supports nonprofit groups, foundations, and communities in advancing education, healthcare, and environmental conservation. With a vibrant community of 2 million data scientists worldwide, H2O.ai aims to co-create valuable AI applications for all users.

H2O.ai has raised $256 million from investors, including Commonwealth Bank, NVIDIA, Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo, Capital One, Nexus Ventures and New York Life.

About This Opportunity

We are seeking a Senior Data Scientist with exceptional research capabilities and proven expertise in developing end-to-end machine learning systems. This role requires a unique combination of deep technical expertise, research acumen, and leadership skills to drive innovation in AI/ML applications across complex, real-world datasets. The ideal candidate will have a strong publication record and experience mentoring teams while tackling abstract problems involving diverse data types.

This position is based in Austin, Texas.

What You Will Do

Research & Development

• Lead independent research initiatives in AI/ML applications, with potential for significant funding opportunities
• Develop and implement cutting-edge machine learning models including generative AI, diffusion models, and large language models
• Design and optimize end-to-end ML systems for production deployment with focus on performance and scalability
• Conduct research on advanced topics such as likelihood-free inference, out-of-distribution generalization, and feature alignment
• Publish findings in top-tier conferences and peer-reviewed journals to advance the field

Technical Leadership & Mentorship

• Mentor and manage teams of data scientists, researchers, and graduate students
• Provide technical guidance on complex ML problems and solution architecture
• Lead cross-functional collaboration with engineering teams on ML system implementation
• Serve as technical expert and thought leader in AI/ML best practices within the organization

Data Science & Analytics

• Analyze complex, noisy, unlabeled datasets across multiple modalities (text, images, video,
• time-series)
• Develop innovative approaches for handling challenging data scenarios including missing labels and distribution shifts
• Create efficient data processing pipelines using multiprocessing and optimization techniques
• Build automated systems for data analysis, model training, and performance monitoring

Product Development & Innovation

• Translate research breakthroughs into practical applications and products
• Develop user-facing AI applications including chatbots, recommendation systems, and automated analysis tools
• Collaborate with product teams to integrate ML capabilities into existing systems and workflows
• Lead proof-of-concept development for new AI/ML initiatives

What We Are Looking For

Education & Experience

• Master's degree in Computer Science, Physics, Mathematics, Statistics, or related quantitative field
• 8+ years of experience in data science, machine learning, or AI research
• Proven track record of leading and mentoring technical teams (20+ individuals)
• Experience managing complex research projects from conception to completion

Technical Skills

• Core Programming & ML
• Expert-level proficiency in Python with strong knowledge of Bash, SQL, C/C++
• Deep experience with ML frameworks: TensorFlow, PyTorch, Scikit-learn
• Extensive experience with data manipulation libraries: NumPy, Pandas, Matplotlib
• Hands-on experience with Hugging Face ecosystem and modern NLP/LLM tools
• Advanced ML Techniques
• Proven expertise in generative AI including diffusion models, GANs, VAEs, and normalizing flows
• Experience with large language models (LLMs) and agentic AI systems
• Knowledge of advanced architectures: CNNs, U-Nets, transformers, and attention mechanisms
• Expertise in dimensionality reduction, density estimation, and denoising techniques
• Experience with likelihood-free inference and Bayesian methods

Research & Publication

• Strong publication record with 30+ peer-reviewed articles in prestigious venues
• Experience publishing in top-tier ML conferences (NeurIPS, ICLR, ICML)
• Ability to communicate complex technical concepts through written and oral presentations
• Experience with reproducible research practices and open-source development

Leadership & Communication Skills

• Demonstrated ability to mentor and develop junior researchers and data scientists
• Experience organizing and facilitating technical workshops and training programs
• Strong project management skills with experience in Agile/Scrum methodologies
• Excellent presentation skills for both technical and non-technical audiences
• Proven ability to secure research funding and manage grant-funded projects

Problem-Solving & Innovation

• Track record of solving complex, abstract problems with innovative approaches
• Experience working with real-world, noisy datasets across multiple domains
• Ability to achieve significant performance improvements (orders of magnitude speedups)
• Strong analytical thinking and experimental design capabilities

How to Stand Out From the Crowd

Industry Experience

• PhD in Physics, Computer Science, Mathematics, Statistics, or related quantitative field
• Deep background in computational sciences (astrophysics, physics, computational biology)
• Experience in technology companies with large-scale data processing requirements
• Knowledge of space sciences, satellite data processing, or scientific computing
• Background in financial services, healthcare, or other data-intensive industries
• Experience with cloud platforms and distributed computing systems

Additional Experience

• Experience with automated content generation and summarization systems
• Background in signal processing and statistical analysisKnowledge of scientific data analysis and visualization
• Experience with web development and deployment of ML applications
• Familiarity with research collaboration platforms and tools

Technical Specialization

• Experience with multimodal AI systems and cross-modal learning
• Knowledge of advanced optimization techniques and performance tuning
• Background in time-series analysis and forecasting
• Experience with computer vision and image processing applications
• Understanding of MLOps and model deployment best practices

Success Metrics

• Quality and impact of research publications in peer-reviewed venues
• Successful mentorship outcomes and team development
• Achievement of significant performance improvements in ML systems
• Successful grant applications and research funding acquisition
• Technical innovation and patent applications
• Contribution to product development and business value creation

Research Environment

• Access to cutting-edge computing resources and datasets
• Opportunity to collaborate with leading researchers in the field
• Support for conference attendance and professional development
• Flexible research directions aligned with business objectives
• Potential for sabbatical opportunities and academic collaborations

Why H2O.ai?

• Market leader in total rewards
• Remote-friendly culture
• Flexible working environment
• Be part of a world-class team
• Career growth
• Salary range: $110,000 - 160,000

H2O.ai is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive culture. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to their race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability status or any other legally protected basis.

H2O.ai is an innovative AI cloud platform company, leading the mission to democratize AI for everyone. Thousands of organizations from all over the world have used our cutting-edge technology across a variety of industries. We’ve made it easy for people at all levels to generate breakthrough solutions to complex business problems and advance the discovery of new ideas and revenue streams. We push the boundaries of what is possible with artificial intelligence. 

H2O.ai employs the world’s top Kaggle Grandmasters, the community of best-in-the-world machine learning practitioners and data scientists. A strong AI for Good ethos and responsible AI drive the company’s purpose.

Please visit www.H2O.ai to learn more.