Director, AI Research - Strategic Partnerships

Socket.dev; Santa Clara (CA); On-site; USD 250,000 - 420,000; Full time

Job summary

AMD is seeking a Director of AI Research-Strategic Partnerships in Santa Clara to lead collaboration with frontier AI labs and model-development partners. You’ll guide a team of researchers and engineers, set the technical agenda across multiple lab programs, and translate frontier research into AMD’s hardware and software roadmap.

The ideal candidate has demonstrated leadership in AI/ML research, deep expertise in reinforcement learning and large-scale model training, and a track record of

Qualifications

• Demonstrated technical leadership in AI/ML research with impactful published work or production impact.
• Deep expertise in reinforcement learning, large-scale model training, GPU programming, and AI systems performance optimization.
• Experience leading research teams and setting technical direction across multiple programs.
• Experience working with frontier AI labs or external partnerships with scientific credibility.
• Strong understanding of hardware-software stack and its impact on model performance.
• Hands-on capability with training pipelines, kernels, or prototyping while leading a team.
• Excellent communication skills for executives, partners, and engineers.
• Track record of attracting and developing top AI research talent.
• PhD or equivalent demonstrated impact.

Responsibilities

• Define and own the AI research strategy for AMD's strategic lab partnerships and align roadmaps with hardware/software priorities.
• Build, lead, and mentor a high-caliber team of AI researchers and research engineers; set direction and standards.
• Serve as AMD's senior research counterpart to partner labs, earning credibility in RL, model training, and large-scale systems.
• Drive joint programs spanning RL training pipelines, GPU programming, kernel and performance optimization, and frontier model performance on AMD platforms.
• Translate frontier-model requirements into input for AMD's hardware roadmap and software stack with silicon/architecture teams.
• Establish IP-preserving collaboration architectures to co-develop while protecting each party's IP.
• Set and track measurable goals for partnerships: model uplift, kernel/workload performance, and milestones.
• Represent AMD's research agenda to executives and external partners; communicate trade-offs and roadmap implications.

Skills

AI research leadership

reinforcement learning

large-scale model training

GPU programming

AI systems performance optimization

team leadership

external research partnerships

communication with executives

Education

PhD in Computer Science

Tools

GPU programming

Job description

WHAT YOU DO AT AMD CHANGES EVERYTHING

At AMD, our mission is to build great products that accelerate next-generation computing experiences from AI and data centers, to PCs, gaming and embedded systems. Grounded in a culture of innovation and collaboration, we believe real progress comes from bold ideas, human ingenuity and a shared passion to create something extraordinary. When you join AMD, you’ll discover the real differentiator is our culture. We push the limits of innovation to solve the world’s most important challenges striving for execution excellence, while being direct, humble, collaborative, and inclusive of diverse perspectives. Join us as we shape the future of AI and beyond. Together, we advance your career.

THE ROLE:

AMD is looking for a Director, AI Research-Strategic Partnerships to lead our research collaborations with frontier AI labs and strategic model-development partners. This is a senior leadership role for someone who can set technical direction at the intersection of reinforcement learning, frontier model training, and AMD silicon - and turn those partnerships into measurable advances for both our partners' models and AMD's hardware and software roadmap.

THE PERSON:

You will build and lead a team of AI researchers and research engineers, own the technical agenda across multiple lab partnerships, and serve as a credible scientific peer to the researchers we collaborate with. The ideal candidate is a recognized technical leader who has shipped real research, can still go deep on training pipelines and kernels when it matters, and knows how to translate frontier-lab needs into hardware and roadmap decisions. We are open to candidates who want to remain hands-on as player-coaches as well as those who lead primarily through their teams.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Define and own the AI research strategy for AMD's strategic lab partnerships, aligning joint technical roadmaps with AMD's hardware and software priorities

• Build, lead, and mentor a high-caliber team of AI researchers and research engineers; set research direction, hiring bar, and standards for technical excellence

• Serve as AMD's senior research counterpart to partner labs - earning credibility as a peer on reinforcement learning, model training, and large-scale systems

• Drive joint research programs spanning RL training pipelines (e.g., async RL, importance sampling, reward modeling), GPU programming, kernel and PPA optimization, and frontier model performance on AMD platforms

• Translate frontier-model requirements into concrete, prioritized input to AMD's hardware roadmap and software stack, partnering closely with silicon, architecture, and compiler teams

• Establish IP-preserving collaboration architectures (e.g., confidential compute) that let AMD and partners co-develop while protecting each party's intellectual property

• Set and track measurable goals for each partnership - model uplift, kernel and workload performance, and verifiable research milestones

• Represent AMD's research agenda to executive leadership and to external partners; communicate results, trade-offs, and roadmap implications to both technical and business audiences

• Stay at the frontier of AI research and translate emerging techniques into opportunities for AMD and its partners

PREFERRED EXPERIENCE:

• Demonstrated technical leadership in AI/ML research, witha track recordof impactful published work and/or research shipped into production or frontier models

• Deep, currentexpertisein one or more of: reinforcement learning, large-scale model training, GPU programming, and AI systems/performance optimization

• Experience leading research teams and setting technical direction across multiple concurrent programs

• Experience working with or inside frontier AI labs, or leading external research partnerships, with the credibility to operate as a scientific peer

• Strong understanding of the hardware-software stack underpinning large-model training and inference, and how architectural decisions affect model performance

• Ability to remain hands-on with training pipelines, kernels, or research prototyping while leading a team

• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to influence executives, partners, and engineers across organizational and company boundaries

• Track record of attracting, hiring, and developing top AI research talent

ACADEMIC CREDENTIALS:

• PhD in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Machine Learning, or a related field, or equivalent research experience and demonstrated impact

Benefits offered are described: AMD benefits at a glance.

AMD does not accept unsolicited resumes from headhunters, recruitment agencies, or fee-based recruitment services. AMD and its subsidiaries are equal opportunity, inclusive employers and will consider all applicants without regard to age, ancestry, color, marital status, medical condition, mental or physical disability, national origin, race, religion, political and/or third-party affiliation, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. We encourage applications from all qualified candidates and will accommodate applicants’ needs under the respective laws throughout all stages of the recruitment and selection process.

AMD may use Artificial Intelligence to help screen, assess or select applicants for this position. AMD's "Responsible AI Policy" is available here.

This posting is for an existing vacancy.