Onsite_ Lead Specialist AI Scientist _Durham, NC

Themesoft Inc; Durham (NC); On-site; USD 150,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

The Lead Specialist AI Scientist role at Themesoft Inc. is based in Durham, NC, and requires onsite work with a 6-12+ month contract.

You will drive AI transformation within the AgentOps team, setting the technical direction for model training and deployment under the Office of the CTO. You will mentor engineers, translate model outcomes to business decisions, and collaborate across stakeholders to ensure robust AI solutions.

Qualifications

• Demonstrated hands-on experience post-training and fine-tuning foundation models.
• Proficiency with parameter-efficient methods (LoRA/QLoRA) and preference optimization techniques (RLHF/DPO).
• Strong Python and deep learning framework skills, including distributed or multi-GPU training.
• Rigorous data curation, experimental design, and evaluation with evidence of improvement.
• Experience with public cloud AI services and taking models into production.
• Track record of setting technical standards and mentoring engineers or scientists.
• Clear communication of model trade-offs, costs, and risks to non-technical stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Set technical direction for model training and adaptation in the AgentOps team.
• Lead AI initiatives for the OCTO office and mentor team members.
• Collaborate with business stakeholders to translate model behavior into actionable decisions.

Skills

Fine-tuning models

LoRA/QLoRA/RLHF/DPO

Python & DL

Data curation

Production deployment

Cloud AI services

Mentoring

Stakeholder comms

Tools

Distributed training

Job description

Experience : 10-29

Job Type : Contractual

Location : DURHAM

Overview

Job Title: Lead Specialist AI Scientist
Location: Durham, NC
Work Arrangement: Onsite
Employment Type: [Contract, CTH]
Contract Duration: 6-12+ months

Role Descriptions

Drive the future of AI Transformation at Client as part of AgentOps. Inspire innovation. Empower learning.Client| the worlds leading learning company| is hiring a Lead Specialist| AI Scientist for our Office of Chief Technology Officer (OCTO) to set the technical direction for model training and adaptation in the AgentOps team at Client.

Essential Skills

• A hands-on scientist and builder who has trained models| not only called them.
• A technical leader who sets direction and standards through credibility rather than authority.
• A pragmatic experimenter who knows when a result is strong enough to ship and when it isnt. A generous mentor who makes the people around them measurably better.
• A collaborator who translates model behavior into decisions that business stakeholders can act on.

Required Skills

• Demonstrated hands-on experience post-training and fine-tuning foundation models
• supervised fine-tuning| parameter-efficient methods such as LoRA or QLoRA| preference optimization such as RLHF or DPO| or distillation.
• Strong Python and deep learning framework skills| including distributed or multi-GPU training.
• Rigor in data curation| experiment design| and evaluation you can show| with evidence| that a model got better.
• Depth in one or more AI/ML areas| plus the breadth to make architecture and tooling decisions for a team.
• Experience with public cloud platforms and their AI-related services| and with taking models into production.
• A track record of setting technical standards and mentoring other engineers or scientists.
• Clear communication with senior and non-technical audiences| including trade-offs| cost| and risk.
• Understanding of how AI/ML applies to educational content| assessment| and personalized learning.

Work Authorization

Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States. subject to company policy and applicable immigration requirements.

Equal Employment Opportunity (Mandatory to all job postings - USA)

[Themesoft Inc] is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. We consider qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other status protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.