Head of Applied AI

Our vision is to build the next-generation platform for fast and easy creation of audio and video content. In November 2022, we took a huge leap forward by launching Storyboard, the video editing foundation that we’re excited to build atop AI capabilities like Overdub, Studio Sound, and other generative AI capabilities in the near future. We're used by some of the world's top podcasters and influencers as well as businesses such as BBC, ESPN, Hubspot, Shopify and Washington Post for communicating via video. We've raised $100M from some of the world's best investors like Andreessen Horowitz, OpenAI Startup fund, Redpoint Ventures and Spark Capital.

We’re looking for a strategic thinker who has a strong product and technical acumen to lead our Applied AI Research team and shape the product and business in the coming years via the cutting edge advancements in AI. You’ll be managing a talented team of AI Researchers specialized in generative models and deep learning and will report directly to the VP of Engineering.

Some of our research publications:

• SampleRNN: An Unconditional End-to-End Neural Audio Generation Model.
• Char2Wav: End-to-end Speech Synthesis.
• ObamaNet: Photo-realistic lip-sync from text.
• MelGAN: Generative Adversarial Networks for Conditional Waveform Synthesis.
• Chunked Autoregressive GAN for Conditional Waveform Synthesis
• Wav2CLIP: Learning Robust Audio Representations From CLIP

This role can be remote in the US or based in the SF Bay Area.

Job Responsibilities

The Head of Applied AI will be responsible for managing and leading our Applied AI Research team in developing and implementing cutting-edge AI technologies for the Descript product. The responsibilities include:

• Leading research projects and ensuring their timely completion
• Collaborating with other teams to integrate AI technologies into real-world products
• Mentoring and managing a team of research scientists and engineers
• Developing and implementing research strategies
• Staying up-to-date with the latest developments in AI technology and incorporating them into our research
• Representing the company in conferences and events

Qualifications

The ideal candidate will have:

• PhD or Master’s degree specialized in Deep Learning or equivalent experience.
• 3+ years in managing AI teams and 5+ years of experience with building deep learning models
• A track record of leading and shipping research projects in production
• Experience in managing and mentoring research scientists
• Strong knowledge of deep learning (and ideally generative models)
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills

The base salary range for this role is $250,000- $310,000/year. Final offer amounts will carefully consider multiple factors, including prior experience, expertise, location, and may vary from the amount above.

About Descript

Descript is building a simple, intuitive, fully-powered editing tool for video and audio — an editing tool built for the age of AI. We are a team of 150 — with a proven CEO and the backing of some of the world's greatest investors (OpenAI, Andreessen Horowitz, Redpoint Ventures, Spark Capital). 

Descript is the special company that's in possession of both product market fit and the raw materials (passionate user community, great product, large market) for growth, but is still early enough that each new employee has a measurable influence on the direction of the company.

Benefits include a generous healthcare package, catered lunches, and flexible vacation time. Our headquarters are located in the Mission District of San Francisco, CA. We're looking to hire people who are local and able to join us at the office when needed. We're flexible, and you're an adult—we don't expect or mandate that you're in the office every day. But we do believe there are valuable and serendipitous moments of discovery and collaboration that come from working together in person. 

Descript is an equal opportunity workplace—we are dedicated to equal employment opportunities regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity, or Veteran status. We believe in actively building a team rich in diverse backgrounds, experiences, and opinions to better allow our employees, products, and community to thrive.