Chief AI Scientist

Grab; Singapore; On-site; SGD 150,000 - 250,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading technology company in Southeast Asia is seeking a Chief AI Scientist to define AI and robotics strategy, lead innovative research and development, and mentor top AI talent. The ideal candidate has over 12 years of experience in AI/ML and a strong academic background. This is a senior-level role that influences technology strategy across the organization. Competitive benefits are offered, including flexible working arrangements.

Benefits

Term Life Insurance

Medical Insurance

FlexWork arrangements

Grabber Assistance Programme

Parental and Birthday leave

Love-all-Serve-all (LASA) volunteering leave

Qualifications

• 12+ years of experience in applied AI/ML research and production environments.
• Hands-on experience with transformers, LoRA, RAG tuning, etc.
• Proven expertise in robotic systems design.
• Experience optimizing large-scale, heterogeneous data pipelines.
• Capacity to bridge technical and business goals.

Responsibilities

• Define AI and Robotics Strategy for Grab.
• Lead Innovative R&D in AI research areas.
• Collaborate across disciplines for seamless AI integration.
• Mentor and develop talent within Grab.
• Shape policy and ecosystem partnerships.

Skills

AI/ML Depth

Generative & Predictive AI Mastery

Robotics Knowledge

Distributed Systems Proficiency

Leadership & Influence

Education

PhD (or equivalent impact) in Computer Science, Robotics, Machine Learning, or Applied Math

Tools

Tools like Ray, Horovod, and Triton

Job description

Company Description

About Grab and Our Workplace

Grab is Southeast Asia's leading superapp. From getting your favourite meals delivered to helping you manage your finances and getting around town hassle-free, we've got your back with everything. In Grab, purpose gives us joy and habits build excellence, while harnessing the power of Technology and AI to deliver the mission of driving Southeast Asia forward by economically empowering everyone, with heart, hunger, honour, and humility.

Job Description

Get to Know the Team

At Grab, fostering innovation and improving lives is at the heart of everything we do. You will be focused on creating impactful AI and robotics systems to serve millions of users across mobility, delivery, and fintech in Southeast Asia. The team values technical rigor, shared expertise, and inclusivity, working together to bring bold ideas into reality while maintaining responsible AI practices.

Get to Know the Role

The Chief AI Scientist role is a senior-level, hands‑on individual contributor that combines deep technical expertise and strategic leadership. You will translate foundational AI and robotics research into real-world applications with one of Southeast Asia’s largest technology companies.

In collaboration with the CTO and senior leaders, you will drive technology strategy, influence talent pipelines, and optimize organizational design to attract and structure world‑class AI/ML expertise. Additionally, you will mentor existing AI/ML talent, champion continuous learning, and foster seamless AI integration across Grab’s verticals.

The Critical Tasks You Will Perform:

• Define AI & Robotics Strategy:

  • Architect Grab’s multi-year AI and robotics roadmap, integrating advancements across machine learning, generative AI, reinforcement learning, causal inference to improve personalization, reliability, safety, driver productivity, and customer experience.
  • Partner with product, engineering, and business leaders to translate strategic objectives into measurable initiatives.

• Lead Innovative R&D:

  • Push boundaries in AI research areas such as LLMs, causal inference, and reinforcement learning, developing scalable solutions like autonomous systems and marketplace optimization.
  • Prototype and refine AI systems with a focus on reliability, latency, scalability, and fairness.
  • Balance bold long‑term bets with phased delivery milestones for high‑impact solutions.

• Collaborate Across Disciplines:

  • Align AI initiatives across software, hardware, and product teams while optimizing cloud AI and robotics systems for seamless integration.
  • Frame fuzzy business questions into tractable research programs; import or invent state‑of-the‑art methods tailored to Grab’s scale.

• Mentor and Develop Talent:

  • Serve as Grab’s technical mentor for scientists and engineers, fostering a culture of ownership, experimentation, and rigor.
  • Attract, coach, and develop elite talent across ML, robotics, embedded systems, and data‑platform disciplines.

• Shape Policy and Ecosystem Partnerships:

  • Represent Grab at conferences, academic forums, and policy roundtables; shape regional AI/robotics regulation and public narratives on responsible innovation.
  • Forge partnerships with leading universities, research labs, and industry consortia to accelerate joint research and talent pipelines.

Qualifications

What Essential Skills You Will Need:

• AI/ML Depth:

  • 12+ years of experience in applied AI/ML research and production environments, complemented by a PhD (or equivalent impact) in Computer Science, Robotics, Machine Learning, or Applied Math.
  • Expertise in scalable innovations such as marketplace optimizations, advanced driver copilots, and fleet‑level autonomy.

• Generative & Predictive AI Mastery:

  • Hands‑on experience with transformers, LoRA, RAG tuning, diffusion models, causal modeling, and self‑supervised learning techniques to develop solutions like conversational AI agents and personalized recommendation systems.

• Robotics Knowledge:

  • Proven expertise in designing perception, planning, and control stacks for robotic systems, including scaling prototypes to commercial fleets or devices.

• Distributed Systems Proficiency:

  • Experience with tools like Ray, Horovod, and Triton with the ability to optimize large‑scale, heterogeneous data pipelines to support seamless AI training, inference, and execution.

• Leadership & Influence:

  • Operated as the principal individual contributor or small‑team leader delivering measurable impacts ($100M+) with demonstrated capacity to bridge technical and business goals effectively.

Additional Information

Life at Grab

We care about your well‑being at Grab, here are some of the global benefits we offer:

• We have your back with Term Life Insurance and comprehensive Medical Insurance.
• With GrabFlex, create a benefits package that suits your needs and aspirations.
• Celebrate moments that matter in life with loved ones through Parental and Birthday leave, and give back to your communities through Love‑all‑Serve‑all (LASA) volunteering leave
• We have a confidential Grabber Assistance Programme to guide and uplift you and your loved ones through life's challenges.
• Balancing personal commitments and life's demands are made easier with our FlexWork arrangements such as differentiated hours

What We Stand For at Grab

We are committed to building an inclusive and equitable workplace that enables diverse Grabbers to grow and perform at their best. As an equal opportunity employer, we consider all candidates fairly and equally regardless of nationality, ethnicity, religion, age, gender identity, sexual orientation, family commitments, physical and mental impairments or disabilities, and other attributes that make them unique.