Founding AI Research Scientist (LLMs)

Kangal AI; Greater London; On-site; GBP 100,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Founder-level ownership

Proprietary dataset access

Job summary

Kangal AI is hiring for a founding research role to build and lead the next generation of large language models. You will own the model stack, design novel architectures, and guide a team to scale AI research within a venture-backed startup.

You will shape the research direction, publish impactful work, and collaborate across disciplines to deliver real-world information services powered by LLMs.

Qualifications

• PhD or equivalent in Computer Science, Machine Learning, AI, or related field.
• Extensive research experience in large language models or NLP.
• Proven track record of publishing high-impact papers.
• Strong programming skills in Python and DL frameworks like TensorFlow or PyTorch.

Responsibilities

• Lead research and development efforts focused on large language models to advance Kangal AI's product offerings.
• Design and implement novel algorithms and architectures tailored to improve LLM performance and applicability.
• Collaborate with interdisciplinary teams to integrate LLM capabilities into scalable, real-world information services solutions.
• Contribute to the strategic planning of AI research directions and roadmap in alignment with company goals.
• Mentor and guide junior researchers and engineers in best practices of AI research and development.
• Evaluate emerging AI technologies and frameworks to continuously refine and enhance our LLM approaches.

Skills

Python

NLP

Research leadership

Communication

Education

PhD in Computer Science / ML / AI

Tools

TensorFlow

PyTorch

Job description

Kangal AI builds frontier artificial intelligence that creates information advantage for those solving the world's most complex problems. We work with governments, national security and private corporations operating in the most demanding environments. Joining us means taking your career to the next level.

Our research is founder-led - we built models that already power what we ship today. You are the hire that takes it to the next level and scales it into a team. You will own the entire model stack: building custom deep-learning models and training and fine-tuning our own large language models to outperform off-the-shelf commercial models on our mission, using a proprietary dataset at a scale most labs never see. You will shape the research direction alongside the founder, raise the bar, and build the team you lead.

Responsibilities

• Lead research and development efforts focused on large language models to advance Kangal AI's product offerings.
• Design and implement novel algorithms and architectures tailored to improve LLM performance and applicability.
• Collaborate with interdisciplinary teams to integrate LLM capabilities into scalable, real-world information services solutions.
• Contribute to the strategic planning of AI research directions and roadmap in alignment with company goals.
• Mentor and guide junior researchers and engineers in best practices of AI research and development.
• Evaluate emerging AI technologies and frameworks to continuously refine and enhance our LLM approaches.

• PhD or equivalent experience in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, or a related field.
• Extensive research experience in large language models, natural language processing, or related AI domains.
• Proven track record of publishing high-impact research papers in top AI conferences or journals.
• Strong programming skills in Python and deep learning frameworks such as TensorFlow or PyTorch.
• Experience with training and fine-tuning large-scale neural network models on extensive datasets.
• Demonstrated ability to innovate and solve complex problems in AI research and development.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills suitable for a dynamic startup environment.

• A defining, founding research role in an early, venture-backed company. For the right person we will pay for the fit. senior compensation(£100k - £160k) plus meaningful equity.
• A proprietary dataset at a scale you cannot get anywhere else, aimed at a mission that matters.
• Real ownership and founder-level access, the freedom to do genuine research.