PhD Data Science - NLP Intern (Summer 2025)

Who You AreVail Systems is looking for a summer intern who is currently enrolled in a PhD program in Computer Science, Data Science, Mathematics, Human Computer Interaction, Natural Language Processing, Computational Linguistics or a related field to work with us on some of the challenges in natural language processing (NLP). The student must be conducting research in NLP and should be able to understand, codify and extract meaning from multiple communication modalities (speech, text), and build new or improve existing models using state-of-the-art machine learning techniques. In addition, preference will be given to candidates with demonstrated proficiency in sentence-generative language models. The student will work with a team of researchers to gain insight from trying new machine learning approaches and will work with practitioners to transition the research to a proof-of-concept.

Qualifications:

• Currently enrolled in a PhD program in Computer Science, Data Science, Mathematics, Human Computer Interaction, Natural Language Processing, Computational Linguistics or a related field.
• 1+ year experience with machine learning and natural language processing.
• Strong verbal and writing communication skills.
• Ability to independently execute a research agenda and collaborate effectively with other researchers and engineers.
• Proficiency in Python or R.
• Experience with deep learning platforms, such as PyTorch, Tensor Flow, CNTK, specifically as they relate to the implementation of state-of-the-art deep learning models (including, but not limited to transformer-based models).
• Existing body of relevant research contributions, such as peer-reviewed publications at top-tier conferences and journals related to ML/NLP.

Who We AreAt Vail, we believe in the unique power of voice interactions to create more expressive, more intimate, and more efficient interpersonal interactions. Using Vail technology, we make millions of voice interactions better every day. We process around 10% of all toll-free call traffic in the U.S.; 1 in 10 times when someone calls a customer support hotline, Vail is routing or interacting with that call.
We are rapidly growing across multiple dimensions, including our customer base, the scope of products we offer, and the size of our team. Now is the right time for a strong candidate to join and grow with us. We have a supportive culture where employees are encouraged to achieve both personal and team goals because we believe growth leads to both business impact and personal fulfillment. 
We are striving to implement and sustain an inclusive and equitable work environment for all employees by sourcing underrepresented groups and continually empowering those individuals within our organization to further enrich Vail’s communication solutions. We recognize that equitable and unique individuals benefit our teams’ problem-solving, innovation, and development efforts. 
Our offices are located in Deerfield and Chicago, IL. Interviews and onboarding are conducted in our offices when possible. We observe a hybrid work format that provides employees flexibility to collaborate with team members based on business needs.