Director of Applied Research

Thomson Reuters•New York, NY

5d•$198,200 - $368,000•Remote

About The Position

About Thomson Reuters Labs We experiment, build and deliver. Thomson Reuters Labs work across all business segments to discover what new products, services, and AI-driven solutions we can create for our customers. With access to over 60,000 TBs of legal, regulatory, news, and tax data, we are building the next generation of AI-powered knowledge systems that transform how professionals access, discover, and act on information. You will join the global labs leadership team as a key leader shaping the technical vision and culture of Thomson Reuters' IR and AI research initiatives.

Requirements

PhD in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing, Information Retrieval, or a closely related field
8+ years of industry experience building and deploying production AI systems at scale
Proven track record of successfully taking machine learning and AI solutions from research to production-grade software with measurable business impact
A strong publication record in leading venues such as SIGIR, NeurIPS, ICLR, ACL, EMNLP, KDD, WWW, or comparable conferences
Demonstrated ability to build, mentor, and manage high-performing teams of engineers and scientists
Experience leading cross-functional initiatives and influencing technical strategy across research, engineering, and product organizations
An entrepreneurial mindset with confidence in making independent decisions and driving initiatives forward
Exceptional communication, collaboration, and stakeholder management skills
Deep hands-on experience in Information Retrieval & Search: Semantic search, ranking algorithms, retrieval optimization, search relevance, and evaluation methodologies
Deep hands-on experience in Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG): Design and optimization of RAG systems, grounding techniques, and answer quality assurance
Deep hands-on experience in Agentic Retrieval Systems: Tool-using retrieval agents, multi-step reasoning for search, and autonomous information discovery
Deep hands-on experience in Natural Language Processing: Core NLP tasks including Named Entity Recognition (NER), Information Extraction, question answering, and advanced language understanding
Deep hands-on experience in Large Language Models & Generative AI: Prompt engineering, fine-tuning, model evaluation, and production deployment of LLM-based applications
Deep hands-on experience in Knowledge Graphs & Knowledge Systems: Design, construction, and leveraging of knowledge graphs for AI applications
Hands-on experience with Python, PyTorch, Hugging Face, and modern MLOps practices
Proficiency in AWS, Azure, or equivalent cloud platforms for deploying and operating AI solutions at scale
A demonstrated desire to learn and embrace new and emerging technologies in the AI/ML landscape
Understand and can translate between research and engineering languages and methodologies
Strong product mindset and understand how to translate complex customer problems into successful solutions
Fundamental understanding of the SDLC and hands-on experience in programming languages such as Python, Java, TypeScript, or JavaScript
Comfortable with ambiguity, creative in redirecting when reaching dead ends, and embrace continuous evolution of your skills
Thrive in diverse, agile, and interdisciplinary environments with a strong sense of urgency

Nice To Haves

Experience building enterprise search, discovery, or research-assistance platforms
Experience within Legal, Tax & Accounting, Risk, Financial Services, or other complex professional domains
Experience with hybrid search, vector databases, recommendation systems, and large-scale retrieval platforms
Experience deploying and operating AI solutions using Azure ML, Azure AI Foundry, AWS SageMaker, or similar cloud platforms
Experience leading large-scale AI initiatives and building diverse, geographically distributed teams
Familiarity with MLOps frameworks, containerization, and modern DevOps practices for AI systems

Responsibilities

Define Technical Vision & Strategy: Set the strategic direction for Information Retrieval research and innovation at Thomson Reuters, positioning TR as a leader in retrieval-based AI. Establish the technical direction for retrieval, ranking, semantic search, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), and agentic retrieval system capabilities. Design and optimize retrieval architectures leveraging embeddings, reranking, hybrid search, knowledge graphs, and contextual retrieval techniques. Build evaluation frameworks and benchmarks for search quality, relevance, answer quality, and real-world business impact. Contribute to the global TR Labs engineering strategy and methodology through adoption of emerging AI/ML technologies and industry best practices.
Build & Lead a High-Performing Team: Hire, train, and manage a highly skilled team with expertise across cloud engineering, machine learning engineering, data engineering, and AI research. Mentor scientists and engineers while establishing best practices for production AI development and deployment. Foster a culture of collaboration, innovation, and continuous learning across the global labs organization. Develop team members' technical depth in information retrieval, NLP, generative AI, and large-scale AI systems.
Drive Production AI Solutions: Lead development of enterprise-grade retrieval, ranking, NLP, and knowledge-based AI solutions that integrate with Thomson Reuters products. Partner closely with Product and Engineering teams to translate customer needs and domain-specific challenges into scalable AI applications. Establish robust channels between Labs research and product technology organizations, enabling effective transfer of innovation to production systems. Apply modern development practices across the entire software development lifecycle—from experimentation to deployment to operational excellence. Demonstrate proficiency in automation, system monitoring, MLOps, and cloud-native AI applications on AWS, Azure, or equivalent platforms.
Drive Strategy & Business Impact: Proactively identify opportunities where Labs can improve the status quo or generate new business value through AI/ML innovation. Influence the global project portfolio and investment decisions with your expertise in applied AI and domain knowledge. Provide strategic input to product and modernization roadmaps, particularly in identifying and articulating AI-driven opportunities. Translate complex customer problems in legal, tax, news, and corporate domains into successful AI solutions. Continuously question why something needs to be done and for whom, maintaining a strong customer-centric mindset.
Be a Trusted Advisor: Actively engage across cross-functional teams, sharing knowledge, valuing diverse ideas, and building relationships with technology and product leaders. Communicate effectively—translating between research and engineering methodologies and languages. Secure alignment and clear paths to market for AI-powered initiatives.

Benefits

Flex My Way is a set of supportive workplace policies designed to help manage personal and professional responsibilities, whether caring for family, giving back to the community, or finding time to refresh and reset.
Flexible work arrangements, including work from anywhere for up to 8 weeks per year
Culture of continuous learning and skill development
Grow My Way programming and skills-first approach
Flexible vacation
Two company-wide Mental Health Days off
Access to the Headspace app
Retirement savings
Tuition reimbursement
Employee incentive programs
Resources for mental, physical, and financial wellbeing
Globally recognized, award-winning reputation for inclusion and belonging, flexibility, work-life balance, and more.
Two paid volunteer days off annually
Opportunities to get involved with pro-bono consulting projects and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) initiatives.
Market competitive health, dental, vision, disability, and life insurance programs
Competitive 401k plan with company match
Competitive vacation, sick and safe paid time off
Paid holidays (including two company mental health days off)
Parental leave
Sabbatical leave
Optional hospital, accident and sickness insurance paid 100% by the employee
Optional life and AD&D insurance paid 100% by the employee
Flexible Spending and Health Savings Accounts
Fitness reimbursement
Access to Employee Assistance Program
Group Legal Identity Theft Protection benefit paid 100% by employee
Access to 529 Plan
Commuter benefits
Adoption & Surrogacy Assistance
Access to Employee Stock Purchase Plan