Software Engineering Manager, Multimodal Assistive Agents (Astra) - Japan

Tokyo, Japan

At Google DeepMind, we value diversity of experience, knowledge, backgrounds and perspectives and harness these qualities to create extraordinary impact. We are committed to equal employment opportunities regardless of sex, race, religion or belief, ethnic or national origin, disability, age, citizenship, marital, domestic or civil partnership status, sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy, or related condition (including breastfeeding) or any other basis as protected by applicable law. If you have a disability or additional need that requires accommodation, please do not hesitate to let us know.

Snapshot

We are seeking a passionate and experienced Software Engineering Manager to lead a team in Tokyo, focused on developing cutting-edge multimodal assistive agents (Astra).

https://deepmind.google/technologies/project-astra/

You will play a key role in building and nurturing a team that enhances assistive agent experiences through advanced AI, leveraging multimodal (vision, audio, text) large language models. This role requires a blend of technical expertise, including prompt engineering, post-training techniques for multimodal LLMs, a strong understanding of the multimodal LLM and assistive agent landscape, and proven leadership skills to guide a high-performing research and engineering team. If you are driven to shape the future of multimodal assistive agents with AI and want to be a part of a collaborative and impactful team at Google DeepMind in Tokyo, we encourage you to apply.

About us

Artificial Intelligence could be one of humanity’s most useful inventions. At Google DeepMind, we’re a team of scientists, engineers, machine learning experts and more, working together to advance the state of the art in artificial intelligence. We use our technologies for widespread public benefit and scientific discovery, and collaborate with others on critical challenges, ensuring safety and ethics are the highest priority.

The role

As a Software Engineering Manager for Multimodal Assistive Agent space, you will lead and grow a team of talented engineers and researchers in Tokyo, responsible for designing, developing, and deploying innovative Gemini-powered multimodal assistive agents into products such as education, health, and gaming.

Key responsibilities

• Lead and Mentor a High-Performing Team: Build, mentor, and guide a diverse team of engineers and researchers, fostering a collaborative and supportive environment where everyone can thrive. You will actively invest in their professional development through regular feedback, coaching, and opportunities for growth.
• Drive Technical Strategy and Execution: Define the technical roadmap for developing multimodal assistive agents for products, working closely with technical leads and product managers, and drive execution from concept to deployment. You will provide guidance based on your domain knowledge and experience, ensuring alignment with overall deployment strategy.
• Hands-on Technical Contribution: Contribute technically to the development process, particularly in areas of prompt engineering and post-training for multimodal LLMs, including data pipelines and evaluation methodologies.
• Collaborate Across Teams and Globally: Partner closely with researchers, product managers, and engineering teams in Japan, the UK, and the US, to seamlessly integrate advanced AI capabilities into compelling agent experience. This role offers a unique opportunity to collaborate with global experts and contribute to cutting-edge AI development.

About you

This role is ideal for a leader who thrives in a collaborative, fast-paced, and dynamic environment and is passionate about leveraging AI to create impactful solutions. You are a creative problem-solver who can distill big-picture challenges into tractable projects, empowering your team to succeed. You value continuous learning, teamwork, and making a positive contribution to society.

• Master's or Ph.D. degree in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• 5+ years of experience in software engineering with a strong focus on machine learning and deep learning.
• 2+ years of experience directly managing and leading high-performing engineering teams of 5-10 contributors.
• Proven track record of successfully building and deploying AI-powered solutions in an industry setting.
• Experience working with researchers and engineers in research domains, ideally including multimodal AI.
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively in a highly collaborative and interdisciplinary environment.
• Experience leading teams that collaborate across time zones and cultures, particularly between Japan, the UK, and the US.
• Strong communication skills in English and Japanese.

In addition, the following would be an advantage: 

• Hands-on experience with prompt engineering and post-training techniques for large language models, including data pipeline and evaluation methodologies.
• Experience with ML frameworks such as JAX, PyTorch, or TensorFlow.
• Experience training and deploying large-scale models (>10 billion parameters).
• Deep understanding of AI/ML algorithms and models (e.g., Transformers).
• Experience developing AI-powered applications or solutions.
• Familiarity with industry such as education, health, and gaming sectors.
• Proven coaching and mentoring skills, with a passion for developing talent.
• Project management certifications or significant experience leading complex projects.
• Contributions to the open-source community or publications in the field of AI.