Remote Senior AI Researcher - Natural Language Processing

Placements24; Benoni; Hybrid; ZAR 900,000 - 1,400,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Remote work

Competitive salary

Health insurance

Paid time off

Retirement savings options

Job summary

Placements24 is seeking a Remote Senior AI Researcher in NLP to lead cutting-edge research and contribute to publications and product innovations. You will work with PyTorch/TensorFlow, Transformers, and NLP libraries, mentor junior researchers, and collaborate with remote teams to advance state-of-the-art language understanding and generation.

The role requires a PhD and 5+ years of NLP research, with a track record in ACL/EMNLP/NeurIPS venues, strong coding, and ability to communicate complex

Qualifications

• PhD in Computer Science, AI, Computational Linguistics or related field.
• 5+ years of dedicated NLP research experience with publications in top venues.
• Proven expertise in modern DL frameworks and NLP libraries.

Responsibilities

• Conduct cutting-edge research in NLP including LLMs, sentiment analysis, MT, text generation and QA.
• Design, develop, and implement novel NLP algorithms and models.
• Analyze results and develop evaluation methodologies for NLP systems.
• Collaborate with researchers and engineers in a remote setting to drive projects.
• Publish findings in top AI/NLP conferences and journals.
• Contribute to AI-powered products and features.
• Stay updated on NLP and ML advancements.
• Mentor junior researchers and interns.
• Contribute to IP through patents and innovative solutions.
• Communicate complex ideas effectively to diverse audiences.

Skills

NLP

Python

Transformers

Deep learning frameworks

Hugging Face Transformers

spaCy

NLTK

Distributed computing

Research leadership

Education

PhD in Computer Science / AI / Computational Linguistics

Tools

TensorFlow

PyTorch

JAX

Job description

About the Role

Our client, a pioneering artificial intelligence research lab, is seeking a highly accomplished Remote Senior AI Researcher specializing in Natural Language Processing (NLP). This position is entirely remote, allowing you to contribute from anywhere while being an integral part of our cutting‑edge R&D team. The successful candidate will focus on advancing the state‑of‑the‑art in NLP, developing novel algorithms, and contributing to groundbreaking research publications and product innovations. You will work on challenging problems, pushing the boundaries of what's possible in understanding and generating human language. This role offers unparalleled opportunities for intellectual exploration and career growth in the rapidly evolving field of AI. We are looking for passionate, creative, and highly skilled researchers who thrive in an independent and collaborative remote setting.

Key Responsibilities

• Conduct cutting‑edge research in Natural Language Processing, including areas like large language models, sentiment analysis, machine translation, text generation, and question answering.
• Design, develop, and implement novel NLP algorithms and models.
• Analyze and interpret experimental results, and develop new methodologies for evaluating NLP systems.
• Collaborate with other researchers and engineers in a remote setting to drive research projects forward.
• Publish research findings in top‑tier AI and NLP conferences and journals.
• Contribute to the development of AI‑powered products and features.
• Stay abreast of the latest advancements and trends in NLP and machine learning.
• Mentor junior researchers and interns, providing guidance and technical support.
• Contribute to the team's intellectual property through patents and innovative solutions.
• Effectively communicate complex research concepts and findings to diverse audiences.

Requirements

• PhD in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Computational Linguistics, or a closely related field.
• Minimum of 5 years of dedicated research experience in Natural Language Processing.
• Demonstrated track record of significant contributions to the NLP field, evidenced by publications in leading conferences (e.g., ACL, EMNLP, NeurIPS) and journals.
• Expertise in deep learning frameworks such as TensorFlow, PyTorch, or JAX.
• Strong programming skills in Python, with extensive experience using NLP libraries (e.g., Hugging Face Transformers, spaCy, NLTK).
• In‑depth understanding of transformer architectures, attention mechanisms, and other modern NLP techniques.
• Experience with large‑scale data processing and distributed computing environments.
• Excellent analytical, problem‑solving, and critical thinking skills.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills, effective in a remote work environment.
• Ability to work independently, manage time effectively, and drive research initiatives.

Benefits

• Our client offers a highly competitive salary and a comprehensive remote work benefits package, including excellent health insurance coverage, generous paid time off, and retirement savings options.
• Opportunities for continuous learning and professional development are emphasized, with support for attending virtual conferences and workshops.
• This role provides the flexibility and autonomy of remote work, coupled with the opportunity to collaborate with world‑class AI researchers on transformative projects.
• We foster a culture of innovation, intellectual curiosity, and mutual respect, enabling you to thrive in your career.