Senior Applied Scientist

Diligent; Vancouver; On-site; CAD 115,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading AI solutions provider in Vancouver is seeking an Applied Scientist to work on NLP and AI projects. The role involves designing machine learning models and collaborating with teams on advanced AI methodologies. Ideal candidates should possess strong Python skills and relevant experience in machine learning. This position offers a salary between $115,000 - $160,000 CAD and a flexible hybrid work model.

Benefits

Flexible work environment

Comprehensive health benefits

Generous time off policy

Diversity initiatives

Qualifications

• 7+ years of relevant experience.
• Strong foundational knowledge in NLP, machine learning, and statistical modeling.
• Experience with model deployment and scaling.

Responsibilities

• Design and develop machine learning models and algorithms.
• Collaborate with applied science teams for NLP solutions.
• Implement and fine-tune models using Python and PyTorch.

Skills

Python

NumPy

scikit-learn

Pandas

NLTK

spaCy

PyTorch

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science

Master’s or PhD preferred

Tools

MLFlow

AWS SageMaker

Job description

Diligent is the AI leader in governance, risk and compliance (GRC) SaaS solutions, helping more than 1 million users and 700,000 board members to clarify risk and elevate governance. The Diligent One Platform gives practitioners, the C‑Suite and the board a consolidated view of their entire GRC practice so they can more effectively manage risk, build greater resilience and make better decisions, faster.

At Diligent, we’re building the future with people who think boldly and move fast. Whether you’re designing systems that leverage large language models or part of a team reimaging workflows with AI, you’ll help us unlock entirely new ways of working and thinking. Curiosity is in our DNA, we look for individuals willing to ask the big questions and experiment fearlessly – those who embrace change not as a challenge, but as an opportunity. The future belongs to those who keep learning, and we are building it together. At Diligent, you’re not just building the future you’re an agent of positive change, joining a global community on a mission to make an impact.

We are seeking a talented and driven Applied Scientist to join our growing team at Diligent. Reporting to the Applied Science Manager, this exciting role involves working on state‑of‑the‑art projects in Natural Language Processing (NLP), Large Language Models (LLMs), and other advanced AI methodologies. Your contributions will be crucial in developing platform‑level AI capabilities, such as document set comprehension, longitudinal insight extraction, semantic search, and structured retrieval‑augmented generation, to accelerate AI adoption across Diligent’s diverse product suite.

Key Responsibilities

• Design and develop machine learning models and algorithms for various applications.
• Design and implement evaluation frameworks and metrics to measure model quality, relevance, and safety.
• Test and evaluate the performance of these models and algorithms.
• Collaborate with the applied science teams to develop and implement NLP solutions for processing large document sets.
• Collaborate with machine learning engineers and software engineers to productize AI‑based capabilities.
• Work on projects involving sensitive customer content used for Diligent customers’ board communications, which requires stringent privacy and security measures.
• Develop and support semantic search, structured retrieval, and R use cases across various Diligent products.
• Utilize LLMs, knowledge graphs, traditional NLP methods, and custom models to provide document set comprehension capabilities and facilitate extraction.
• Focus on complex legal and regulatory language within the GRC industry, ensuring accurate and relevant model outputs.
• Implement and fine‑tune models using Python and PyTorch, leveraging AWS infrastructure.
• Document and communicate your approach, progress, and results to the broader team.
• Staying up to date with the latest research and developments in the field of machine learning and AI.
• Lead and oversee research projects, design and analyze experiments, build evaluation frameworks to measure the quality of our solutions.

Required Experience/Skills

• Proficiency in Python, NumPy, scikit‑learn, Pandas, NLTK, spaCy, PyTorch, or similar.
• Experience with model deployment and scaling.
• Strong foundational knowledge NLP, machine learning, and statistical modeling.
• Proficiency in building ML/AI pipelines and relevant tools such as MLFlow, AWS SageMaker, or similar.
• Experience with model evaluation methodologies, metrics design, and experiment analysis.
• 7+ years of relevant experience.

Preferred Qualifications

• Hands‑on experience with LLMs including prompt engineering, fine‑tuning model evaluation, and building RAG‑based functionality.
• Experience with semantic search and information retrieval systems.
>Familiarity with reinforcement learning methods.
• Track record of designing custom evaluation metrics for domain‑specific use cases.

Educational Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Mathematics, or a related field.
• Master’s or PhD preferred.

Soft Skills

• Strong analytical and problem‑solving skills.
• Excellent communication and collaboration abilities.
• Self‑motivated with a proactive approach to project management.
• Ability to work effectively in a hybrid or remote environment.

$115,000 - $160,000 CAD

What Diligent Offers You

• Creativity is ingrained in our culture. We are innovative collaborators by nature. We thrive in exploring how things can be differently both in our internal processes and to help our clients.
• We care about our people. Diligent offers a flexible work environment, global days of service, comprehensive health benefits, meeting free days, generous time off policy and wellness programs to name a few.
• We have teams all over the world. We may be headquartered in New York City, but we have office hubs in Washington D.C., Vancouver, London, Galway, Budapest, Munich, Bengaluru, Singapore, and Sydney.
• Diversity is important to us. Growing, maintaining and promoting a diverse team is a top priority for us. We foster and encourage diversity through our Employee Resource Groups and provide access to resources and education to support the education of our team, facilitate dialogue, and foster understanding.

Headquartered in New York, Diligent has offices in Washington D.C., London, Galway, Budapest, Vancouver, Bengaluru, Munich, Singapore and Sydney. To foster strong collaboration and connection, this role will follow a hybrid work model. If you are within a commuting distance to one of our Diligent office locations, you will be expected to work onsite at least 50% of the time. We believe that in‑person engagement helps drive innovation, teamwork, and a strong sense of community.

We are a drug free workplace. Diligent is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based on race, color, religious creed, sex, national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, pregnancy, childbirth, physical disability, mental disability, age, military status, protected veteran status, marital status, registered domestic partner or civil union status, gender (including sex stereotyping and gender identity or expression), medical condition (including, but not limited to, cancer related or HIV/AIDS related), genetic information, or sexual orientation in accordance with applicable federal, state and local laws. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. See also Diligent's EEO Policy and Know Your Rights. We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans in our job application procedures. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, you may contact us at [e-mail].