Senior Applied Research Scientist

Firsthand • New York, NY

2d • Hybrid

About The Position

We are seeking a Senior Applied Research Scientist to drive our product's AI and agent capabilities. You will join a lean team of applied researchers while working closely with engineering and product teams to translate research into production-ready AI agents. This is a hands-on role — we need a doer who thrives in a startup environment with a high degree of freedom and ambiguity.
This role is hybrid (3 days/week in office), with a strong preference for candidates based in New York.

Requirements

• 2+ years of professional experience in AI, with leadership experience.
• Deep understanding of software engineering principles and proficiency in Python, AI frameworks, and modern tooling for agents and evals. Experience with deep learning and reinforcement learning is a plus.
• Hands-on builder who takes ownership and drives projects to completion.
• Extensive experience shipping AI systems in production, particularly agents and LLM-powered applications.
• Strong communicator who works well cross-functionally with engineering and product teams.

Nice To Haves

• Advertising or marketing-related experience is a strong plus.

Responsibilities

• Drive the full life-cycle of AI systems from conception through deployment, including building robust evaluation frameworks to measure and improve agent performance.
• Collaborate closely with engineering and product teams to integrate AI capabilities into the product experience.
• Stay at the forefront of AI by exploring the latest advancements in agents, evals, and applied AI research.
• Provide strategic direction and mentorship while contributing directly to prototyping, building, and iterating on AI systems.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: No Education Listed