Head of Research

Free-Work; Peacehaven; On-site; GBP 130,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Bi-annual salary reviews

Equity refresh program

Job summary

Free-Work in Central London is seeking a Head of Research to build and lead a research function from the ground up, while remaining hands-on with cutting-edge LLMs, vision models and agentic systems in a regulated industry. You will shape the research roadmap and drive production-grade research across teams.

The role combines leadership with hands-on technical work, requiring 5+ years of applied AI/ML leadership, a track record of delivering research to production, and the ability to communicate

Qualifications

• 5+ years' applied AI research or ML engineering experience.
• Proven experience leading technical teams and research through to production.
• Hands-on expertise with LLM/vision model training, fine-tuning, agents and evaluation.
• Strong understanding of model quality, benchmarking and production ML systems.
• Excellent research judgement, ownership and communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Own the AI research strategy, roadmap and build-vs-adapt decisions.
• Build, lead and develop a team of AI researchers and engineers.
• Lead hands-on development across LLMs, vision models and agentic systems.
• Own evaluation, benchmarking, model quality and continuous improvement.
• Partner with product, engineering and commercial teams to deliver research into production.

Skills

AI leadership

Team leadership

Hands-on ML

LLM training

Vision models

Evaluation & benchmarking

Communication

Job description

Head of Research
Central London (4-5 days per week in office)
£130,000 - £180,000 + Equity + Bi-Annual Salary Reviews + Annual Performance-Based Equity Refresh
Are you an accomplished AI Research or Machine Learning leader looking to build and lead a research function from the ground up, while remaining hands-on with cutting-edge LLMs, vision models and agentic systems solving complex, real-world problems within a highly regulated industry? This is a rare opportunity to take ownership of the AI research strategy within an ambitious early-stage technology business, where model quality, accuracy and explainability are fundamental to the product. You will set the research roadmap, build and develop a high-performing research team and lead the most technically challenging work. This will include model training and fine-tuning, agentic systems, evaluation infrastructure, distillation, failure analysis and continuous improvement using real-world feedback. While leadership remains a crucial aspect of the role, this specific position would suit someone looking to remain hands-on and work alongside the team on future developments. The ideal candidate will have significant applied AI research or ML engineering experience, alongside proven leadership experience taking research through to production. You will combine deep technical capability with strong research judgement and the ability to communicate complex concepts effectively across engineering, product, commercial teams and customers.

The Role:

• Own the AI research strategy, roadmap and build-vs-adapt decisions.
• Build, lead and develop a team of AI researchers and engineers.
• Lead hands-on development across LLMs, vision models and agentic systems.
• Own evaluation, benchmarking, model quality and continuous improvement.
• Partner with product, engineering and commercial teams to deliver research into production.

The Person:

• 5+ years' applied AI research or ML engineering experience.
• Proven experience leading technical teams and research through to production.
• Hands-on expertise with LLM/vision model training, fine-tuning, agents and evaluation.
• Strong understanding of model quality, benchmarking and production ML systems.
• Excellent research judgement, ownership and communication skills.

Reference Number: BBBH280473

We are an equal opportunities company and welcome applications from all suitable candidates.