Pioneering Speech & Audio ML Research Scientist

Institute of Foundation Models; Paris; On-site; EUR 50,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading AI research institution in France is seeking a Research Scientist specializing in speech/audio machine learning. You will design and train state-of-the-art neural speech models, focusing on innovative architectures for low-latency speech translation. A PhD or MSc in Computer Science, with publications in top venues, is essential. This role offers a unique opportunity to influence the development of transformative AI solutions that shape industries.

Qualifications

• PhD or MSc focusing on Deep Learning, Signal Processing, or Computational Linguistics.
• Published research in top-tier venues (NeurIPS, ICLR, ICASSP, Interspeech).

Responsibilities

• Develop novel neural architectures for low-latency speech-to-speech translation.
• Design custom objective functions to optimize prosody.
• Conduct large-scale training runs and ablation studies.
• Establish rigorous benchmarks using objective and subjective testing.

Skills

Deep Learning

Signal Processing

Computational Linguistics

Education

PhD or MSc in Computer Science

Job description

About the Institute of Foundation Models

We are a dedicated research lab for building, understanding, using, and risk-managing foundation models. Our mandate is to advance research, nurture the next generation of AI builders, and drive transformative contributions to a knowledge-driven economy.

As part of our team, you’ll have the opportunity to work on the core of cutting-edge foundation model training, alongside world-class researchers, data scientists, and engineers, tackling the most fundamental and impactful challenges in AI development. You will participate in the development of groundbreaking AI solutions that have the potential to reshape entire industries. Strategic and innovative problem-solving skills will be instrumental in establishing MBZUAI as a global hub for high-performance computing in deep learning, driving impactful discoveries that inspire the next generation of AI pioneers.

The Role

As a Research Scientist specializing in speech/audio machine learning, you will contribute tothe design and training ofSoTAend-to-end neural speech models. You will be responsible for developing the core intellectual property, moving beyond cascaded ASR → TTS systems toward native audio-to-audio multimodal architectures.

Key responsibilities

• Architectural Design: Develop novel neural architectures for low-latency speech-to-speech translation and generation (e.g., Diffusion, Flow-matching, Transformer-based audio LLMs).
• Loss Function Engineering: Design and implement customobjectivefunctions to optimize prosody(emotions, intelligibility, naturalness).
• Experimental Iteration: Conduct large-scale training runs, performing ablation studies onmodel architectureand tokenization strategies.
• Evaluation Frameworks:Establishrigorous internal benchmarks using both objective metrics (WER, MCD) and subjective human-in-the-loop (MOS) testing.

Qualifications

• PhD or MSc in Computer Sciencewith a focus on Deep Learning, Signal Processing, or Computational Linguistics.
• Record of Research: Published work in top-tier venues (NeurIPS, ICLR, ICASSP,Interspeech).