Director, Applied Science

Tekion; Bengaluru; On-site; INR 6,000,000 - 9,000,000; Full time

Job summary

Tekion is seeking a senior leader in applied science to drive innovation and scale data-driven products. You will oversee ML model development, experimentation, and deployment, while aligning with business priorities across Product, Engineering, and Data teams.

The role requires strong technical leadership, a track record of deploying production ML systems, and the ability to mentor a high-performing team in a fast-evolving cloud-native automotive platform environment.

Qualifications

• PhD or Master’s degree in Machine Learning, Computer Science, Statistics, or a related field.
• 16+ years of experience in applied science or machine learning roles, including at least 3 years in a management role.
• Proven experience building and deploying ML models in production systems.
• Deep understanding of supervised, unsupervised, and deep learning techniques.
• Strong coding skills in Python and proficiency with ML frameworks such as PyTorch or TensorFlow.
• Excellent communication, stakeholder management, and cross-functional leadership skills.
• Experience managing complex technical projects and delivering measurable business impact.

Responsibilities

• Lead a team of applied scientists and ML engineers in developing and deploying advanced models.
• Drive the technical vision, research agenda, and roadmap for applied science initiatives.
• Oversee experimentation, evaluation, and deployment of ML models into production environments.
• Collaborate with Product, Engineering, and Data teams to integrate models into scalable systems.
• Mentor team members and foster a high-performance culture grounded in innovation and learning.
• Represent the applied science function in executive and strategic planning discussions.

Skills

Leadership

Cross-functional collaboration

Communication

Mentoring

Education

PhD or Master’s in ML/CS/Statistics

Tools

Python

PyTorch

TensorFlow

Job description

About Tekion:

Positively disrupting an industry that has not seen any innovation in over 50 years, Tekion has challenged the paradigm with the first and fastest cloud-native automotive platform that includes the revolutionary Automotive Retail Cloud (ARC) for retailers, Automotive Enterprise Cloud (AEC) for manufacturers and other large automotive enterprises and Automotive Partner Cloud (APC) for technology and industry partners. Tekion connects the entire spectrum of the automotive retail ecosystem through one seamless platform. The transformative platform uses cutting-edge technology, big data, machine learning, and AI to seamlessly bring together OEMs, retailers/dealers and consumers. With its highly configurable integration and greater customer engagement capabilities, Tekion is enabling the best automotive retail experiences ever. Tekion employs close to 3,000 people across North America, Asia and Europe.

Summary

Responsible for leading advanced applied science initiatives that drive innovation, optimize business outcomes, and expand the capabilities of data-driven products and services. This role requires strategic oversight, technical excellence, and the ability to translate scientific advancements into real-world applications. It involves cross-functional collaboration, mentoring, and execution of complex machine learning and artificial intelligence solutions.

Duties & Responsibilities

• Lead a team of applied scientists and machine learning engineers in developing and deploying advanced models and algorithms.
• Drive the technical vision, research agenda, and roadmap for applied science initiatives aligned with business priorities.
• Oversee experimentation, evaluation, and deployment of machine learning models into production environments.
• Collaborate with Product, Engineering, and Data teams to integrate models into scalable systems.
• Champion best practices in scientific rigor, experimentation, reproducibility, and responsible AI.
• Mentor team members and foster a high-performance culture grounded in innovation and continuous learning.
• Monitor project progress, remove blockers, and ensure delivery of high-impact outcomes on time and within scope.
• Represent the applied science function in executive and strategic planning discussions.

Qualifications

• PhD or Master’s degree in Machine Learning, Computer Science, Statistics, or a related field.
• 16+ years of experience in applied science or machine learning roles, including at least 3 years in a management role.
• Proven experience building and deploying ML models in production systems.
• Deep understanding of supervised, unsupervised, and deep learning techniques.
• Strong coding skills in Python and proficiency with ML frameworks such as PyTorch or TensorFlow.
• Excellent communication, stakeholder management, and cross-functional leadership skills.
• Experience managing complex technical projects and delivering measurable business impact.

Note: Tekion recently transitioned to a new recruiting tool and we appreciate your patience and feedback as we adjust to our new system!

Tekion is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, victim of violence or having a family member who is a victim of violence, the intersectionality of two or more protected categories, or other applicable legally protected characteristics.

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