Research Staff, Applied Voice AI

PromptCube; New York (NY); Remote; USD 178,000 - 268,000; Full time

Job summary

Deepgram is hiring a Research Staff, Applied Voice AI to turn customer-facing model gaps into measurable improvements and production fixes. You will design evaluations, curate data, fine-tune models, and own each problem through shipment to deliver fixes to customers within weeks.

You will diagnose model shortcomings, set targets, and ship improvements end to end, often working across languages, pronunciation, and noise isolation to enhance real-time voice AI capabilities.

Qualifications

• Deep experience training, fine-tuning, and evaluating deep learning models.
• Strong Python and PyTorch skills.
• A track record of shipping ML to production.
• A habit of owning problems end to end and learning what is needed along the way.
• Good judgment about which problems matter and when a result is ready to ship.

Responsibilities

• Diagnose where Deepgram's models fall short and set concrete improvement targets.
• Design evaluations to show model improvements and guide decisions.
• Curate data and fine-tune models, including external models as needed.
• Build working systems quickly and ship fixes to production.
• Own a customer problem end to end until measurable production improvement.
• Contribute to applied projects like expanding languages, improving TTS pronunciation, and isolating a speaker's voice from noise.

Skills

Python

PyTorch

Production ML

End-to-end ownership

AI-first mindset

Job description

Role overview

Deepgram, a voice AI platform company, is hiring a Research Staff, Applied Voice AI to turn customer-facing model gaps into measurable improvements and production fixes. The researcher designs evaluations, curates data, fine-tunes models, and owns each problem through shipment, aiming to deliver fixes to customers within weeks.

Responsibilities

• Diagnose where Deepgram's voice AI models and systems fall short, then set concrete targets for improvement.
• Design evaluations that show whether a model is better and explain why, using the results to guide research decisions.
• Curate and generate data and fine-tune models, using whatever approach works, including external models.
• Build working systems quickly and ship them to production, aiming to deliver fixes to every customer within weeks.
• Own a customer problem end to end until it measurably improves in production, pursuing the fastest path even when it is an approach no one has tried.
• Contribute to applied projects such as expanding models to new languages and regions, improving text-to-speech pronunciation of names, terms, and numbers, and isolating a speaker's voice from background noise and crosstalk.
• Give customers early access to new voice capabilities such as steerable and cloned voices, use their feedback to guide research methodology, and release new benchmarks for Voice AI use cases.

Qualifications

• Deep experience training, fine-tuning, and evaluating deep learning models.
• Strong Python and PyTorch skills.
• A track record of shipping machine learning to production.
• A habit of owning problems end to end and learning what is needed along the way.
• Good judgment about which problems matter and when a result is ready to ship.
• An AI-first mindset: actively use and experiment with advanced AI tools, integrate them into daily workflows, and apply them creatively; the employer measures how effectively AI is applied to deliver results.

Application conditions

• Full-time position.
• Listed locations: USA
• Remote; San Francisco, CA; New York City, NY.
• The posting does not specify residency, work authorization, time-zone, language, travel, or in-office/hybrid attendance requirements; remote eligibility does not imply worldwide eligibility.
• No specific degree is required; applicants should show hard problems they have solved in past projects, shipped systems, or open-source work.
• The employer says candidates energized by the role's expectations may be the person it needs.
• The employer states that day-to-day work will evolve quickly and that the role may not suit someone seeking a highly prescriptive traditional 9-to-5.

Preferred qualifications

• Experience with speech-to-text, text-to-speech, or voice agents.
• Experience with distributed training.
• Published papers, open-source contributions, or public benchmarks.

Compensation and benefits

• Pay range: $178K - $268K USD per year.

Employer-published remote role. Listed location(s): USA

• Remote; San Francisco, CA; New York City, NY. Remote does not imply worldwide eligibility. Check the original listing for residency, work authorization, time zone, language and travel requirements.

Company Overview

Deepgram is the leading platform underpinning the emerging trillion-dollar Voice AI economy, providing real-time APIs for speech-to-text (STT), text-to-speech (TTS), and building production-grade voice agents at scale. More than 200,000 developers and 1,300+ organizations build voice offerings that are ‘Powered by Deepgram’, including Twilio, Cloudflare, Sierra, Decagon, Vapi, Daily, Cresta, Granola, and Jack in the Box. Deepgram’s voice-native foundation models are accessed through cloud APIs or as self-hosted and on-premises software, with unmatched accuracy, low latency, and cost efficiency.

Backed by a recent Series C led by leading global investors and strategic partners, Deepgram has processed over 50,000 years of audio and transcribed more than 1 trillion words. There is no organization in the world that understands voice better than Deepgram.

Company Operating Rhythm

At Deepgram, we expect an AI-first mindset—AI use and comfort aren’t optional, they’re core to how we operate, innovate, and measure performance.

Every team member who works at Deepgram is expected to actively use and experiment with advanced AI tools, and even build your own into your everyday work. We measure how effectively AI is applied to deliver results, and consistent, creative use of the latest AI capabilities is key to success here. Candidates should be comfortable adopting new models and modes quickly, integrating AI into their workflows, and continuously pushing the boundaries of what these technologies can do.

Additionally, we move at the pace of AI. Change is rapid, and you can expect your day-to-day work to evolve just as quickly. This may not be the right role if you’re not excited to experiment, adapt, think on your feet, and learn constantly, or if you’re seeking something highly prescriptive with a traditional 9-to-5.

The Opportunity

We're building the engine that solves customer challenges at scale. When customers hit a limit in our voice AI, you'll measure it, fix it, and ship the fix to every customer in weeks.

Example projects:

• Expanding our models to new languages and regions
• Improving how text-to-speech pronounces names, terms, and numbers
• Isolating a speaker's voice from background noise and crosstalk
• Giving customers early access to new voice capabilities, like steerable and cloned voices, and using their feedback to guide the research methodology
• Releasing new benchmarks for Voice AI use-cases

The Role

You will thrive in this role if you enjoy:

• Turning vague customer problems into clear metrics
• Using whatever works to fix them, including fine-tuning, new data, and external models
• Shipping work that customers use within weeks

The Challenge

We are seeking researchers who:

• Own a customer problem until it measurably improves in production
• Find the fastest path to a fix, even if it's an approach no one has tried
• Can tell when a result is ready for customers

If these expectations energize you, you might be the person we need. This role takes focus on the customer's problem, creativity in approach, and a strong drive to ship.

What You'll Do

• Find where our models fall short and set targets for improvement
• Design evaluations that show whether a model is better and why
• Curate and generate data and fine-tune models
• Build working systems quickly and ship them to production

We don't require a specific degree. Show us hard problems you've solved in past projects, shipped systems, or open source work.

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You May Be a Good Fit If You Have

• Deep experience training, fine-tuning, and evaluating deep learning models
• Strong Python and PyTorch skills
• A track record of shipping ML to production
• A habit of owning problems end to end and learning what you need along the way
• Good judgment about which problems matter and when a result is ready to ship

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Strong Candidates May Have

• Experience with speech-to-text, text-to-speech, or voice agents
• Experience with distributed training
• Published papers, open source contributions, or public benchmarks

Notice: We're aware of individuals impersonating Deepgram recruiters. All legitimate Deepgram recruiting communication comes from an @deepgram.com email address. If you've received a message claiming to be Deepgram, please forward it to [e-mail].