Applied Methods
~The MetaResearch & ScienceResearch Management

Research Management

Research managers in this role oversee teams developing AI solutions for complex scientific and technical challenges, from drug discovery and autonomous systems to model evaluation and safety research. They balance hands-on technical leadership with strategic planning, setting research directions and priorities while mentoring scientists and engineers through exploratory work. What distinguishes these leaders is their ability to translate frontier AI research into measurable outcomes—whether that's evaluating model capabilities, optimizing machine learning pipelines, building new evaluation frameworks, or steering teams toward products that solve real customer problems. They typically operate within specialized research functions nested within larger product or engineering organizations, working cross-functionally to ensure research breakthroughs integrate into platforms and services that matter.

$ titles --canonical
Research Science ManagerDirector, Machine Learning Research
Open Jobs29
Companies Hiring16
$02

Skills

What companies are looking for in this role.

$ skills --core

Leading and mentoring research teams to drive innovation and scientific rigor

95%

Defining and executing research roadmaps aligned with business strategy and product delivery

92%

Translating frontier research into production-ready systems and scalable solutions

89%

Building and scaling machine learning models for specific scientific or engineering domains

88%

Cross-functional collaboration with engineering, product, and business stakeholders

87%

Hiring world-class research talent and building high-performance teams

87%

Evaluating and advancing state-of-the-art algorithms and methodologies

85%

Managing research projects from conception through validation to deployment

84%

Hands-on technical contribution and code implementation in core research areas

82%

Designing and executing experiments to validate scientific hypotheses

81%

Establishing technical culture and setting standards for quality and execution

78%

Conducting literature review and staying informed about research breakthroughs

75%
$ skills --emerging

Communicating complex technical research through publications and presentations

79%

Developing and optimizing large-scale model training and inference systems

78%

Applying reinforcement learning and advanced fine-tuning techniques for model alignment

72%

Building generative AI models for drug discovery and molecular design

68%

Developing data-centric approaches to improve model training and evaluation

65%

Designing world models and embodied AI systems for robotics applications

62%
$ skills --soft

Conducting stakeholder management and external relationship building

83%

Fostering a collaborative culture of experimentation and continuous learning

82%

Communicating technical vision and strategy to diverse audiences

81%

Mentoring junior researchers and supporting professional development

80%

Navigating ambiguity and managing shifting priorities in fast-paced environments

77%

Building partnerships with academic institutions and external collaborators

74%

Translating customer needs and business problems into research initiatives

71%
$03

Technology

The tools and technologies that define this role.

$ tech --language
Pythonhigh
C++moderate
$ tech --framework
PyTorchhigh
Transformershigh
JAXmoderate
LoRAmoderate
TensorFlowmoderate
$ tech --platform
CUDAhigh
GPU Cloud Infrastructuremoderate
$ tech --concept
Generative AIvery high
Large Language Models (LLMs)very high
Data Pipelineshigh
Distributed Traininghigh
Drug Discovery AIhigh
Fine-tuninghigh
Foundation Modelshigh
Inference Optimizationhigh
Post-training Optimizationhigh
Reinforcement Learninghigh
Simulationhigh
World Modelshigh
3D Scene Reconstructionmoderate
Bioinformaticsmoderate
Compiler Optimizationmoderate
Evaluation Frameworksmoderate
Experiment Managementmoderate
Kernel Optimizationmoderate
Knowledge Distillationmoderate
Mixture of Expertsmoderate
MLOpsmoderate
Model Servingmoderate
Multi-Physics Simulationmoderate
Open Sourcemoderate
Protein Structure Predictionmoderate
Quantizationmoderate
Roboticsmoderate
Vision Language Modelsmoderate
SLAMlow
Standard Development Organizationslow
$04

Open Jobs

29 open Research Management jobs across 16 companies.

Snorkel AI1w
Director, Research - Frontier Benchmarks
San Francisco, CA (Hybrid)·Research & Science
Snorkel AI1w
Director, Research - Evaluation & Training
San Francisco, CA (Hybrid)·Research & Science
Harvey2w
Head of Research Community and Operations
San Francisco·Research & Science
Recursion2w
Vice President, Medical Affairs
New York, New York; Salt Lake City, Utah·Research & Science
Recursion2w
Vice President, Head of Clinical Operations
New York, New York; Salt Lake City, Utah·Research & Science
Waymo3w
Tech Lead Manager, Foundation Models
Mountain View, CA, USA ; Kirkland, WA, USA ; New York City, NY, USA·Research & Science
Scale AI3w
Head of Policy & Security Research Lab
London, UK; San Francisco, CA; Seattle, WA; New York, NY; Washington, DC·Research & Science
Recursion4w
Associate Director, Computational Biology – Early Discovery
Salt Lake City, Utah·Research & Science
Databricks1mo
Sr. Staff AI Research TLM - AI Systems
Mountain View, California; San Francisco, California·Research & Science
Waymo1mo
International Standardization Lead (Staff Researcher)
London, England, United Kingdom·Research & Science
Isomorphic Labs1mo
Head of Medicinal Chemistry, Drug Design, London
London·Research & Science
Scale AI1mo
Technical Lead Manager, Physical AI
San Francisco, CA·Research & Science
Every Cure1mo
Head of Clinical Development
Boston, MA·Research & Science
Recursion1mo
Manager, Computational Biology (Early Oncology)
New York, New York; Salt Lake City, Utah·Research & Science
Databricks1mo
Principal Research Scientist - AI Scaling & Optimization
Mountain View, California; San Francisco, California·Research & Science
PhysicsX1mo
Principal Research Scientist
London, United Kingdom·Research & Science
Crusoe2mo
Senior Director, AI Model Lifecycle
San Francisco, CA - US·Research & Science
Databricks2mo
Principal Research Scientist – Scaling
San Francisco, California·Research & Science
Isomorphic Labs2mo
Head of Computational Drug Design, Cambridge, MA
Cambridge, MA·Research & Science
Snorkel AI2mo
Director, Research - Human Data Systems
San Francisco, CA (Hybrid)·Research & Science