Research Manager

Harnham; California; Hybrid; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Harnham partners with a well-funded AI research company focused on next-generation multimodal models for media, interactive experiences, and world models. The role centers on building and growing an Applied ML Research team with a strong foundation in computer vision, multimodal work, VLMs/MLLMs, and Physical AI within a cross-functional research group.

You will lead 5–10 senior researchers, stay hands-on, and drive the transition from research to production by collaborating with engineering,

Qualifications

• 5+ years of industry experience as a research scientist in computer vision.
• 1+ years managing teams.
• Hands-on in a hybrid research engineering capacity.
• High emotional intelligence with mentoring experience.
• Experience shipping research into production.

Responsibilities

• Manage and grow a team of senior researchers (5–10), mentoring them and staying hands-on with research.
• Oversee the transition from research into production, working closely with engineering to ship state-of-the-art ML work.
• Partner with Product to initiate and develop research projects that translate into clear user value.
• Communicate goals, drive execution, and inspire through others across a cross-functional org.
• Translate product and business objectives into technical research strategies.

Skills

Team leadership

Computer vision

Mentorship

Cross-functional collaboration

Job description

Essential: A demonstrated research track record with an h-index of 20+

We’re partnered with a well-funded AI research company focused on building next-generation multimodal models for media, interactive experiences, and world models. Their work spans cutting-edge generative systems and is increasingly moving toward real-time, interactive environments, pushing beyond static outputs into dynamic, AI-driven applications.

This is a high-impact, cross-functional role focused on managing and growing an Applied ML Research team building cutting-edge tools for AI-based media and world models, with a strong research foundation in computer vision and direct exposure to multimodal work, VLMs/MLLMs, and Physical AI as part of their core research team.

What You'll Do

• Manage and grow a team of senior researchers (likely 5-10), mentoring them and supporting their career growth while staying hands-on with research
• Oversee the transition from research into production, working closely with engineering to ship state-of-the-art ML work
• Partner with Product to initiate and develop research projects that translate into clear user value
• Communicate goals, drive execution, and inspire through others across a cross-functional org
• Translate product and business objectives into technical research strategies

Requirements

• 5+ years of industry experience as a research scientist in computer vision, with 1+ years managing teams
• Comfortable managing senior researchers while remaining hands-on in a hybrid research engineering capacity
• High emotional intelligence, with a track record of mentoring and developing other researchers
• Deep interest in productionizing state-of-the-art ML research, having shipped research into product previously
• Strong communication and collaboration skills across research, engineering, and product

If you're interested in working on the systems that enable next-generation AI models to train faster and run in real time, this is a rare opportunity to operate at the cutting edge of research and infrastructure.