Lead Research Scientist, Natural Language Processing

Key Skills

3D Computer vision, C Programming, C++, Computer Vision (CV), Deep Learning, Machine learning techniques, Python Programming

Job Description

Snap Inc is a technology company. We believe the camera presents the greatest opportunity to improve the way people live and communicate. Snap contributes to human progress by empowering people to express themselves, live in the moment, learn about the world, and have fun together. The Company’s three core products are Snapchat, a visual messaging app that enhances your relationships with friends, family, and the world; Lens Studio, an augmented reality platform that powers AR across Snapchat and other services; and its AR glasses, Spectacles.

Snap Research serves as an innovation engine for the company. Our projects range from solutions to hard technical problems that significantly enhance Snap’s existing products, to riskier explorations that can lead to fundamental paradigm shifts in the way people communicate and express themselves. The team consists of scientists and engineers who experiment with and invent new technology that has a lasting impact on Snap’s products. 

We are looking for a Lead Research Scientist to join the Creative Vision Research Team! We believe creativity is achieved when technology understands the world, humans and objects, provides a range of creative generation and manipulation tools and efficient real-time experiences. Besides, the future of creativity requires a multimodal conversation of the creator and AI-driven creative tools. We expand our expertise to large-scale language models, multimodal generative and dialog models.

What you’ll do:

• Define and own a roadmap of large-scale research projects from inception to completion
• Participate in strategic decision-making across the company
• Mentor and lead other teammates and interns
• Publish your work to top conferences
• Partner with engineering teams to deliver your technology to millions of Snapchatters

Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities:

• Strong technical knowledge of statistics, machine learning, 2D and 3D vision and state-of-the-art deep learning literature
• Proven experience with natural language processing, including textual data processing , training and evaluating masked and causal LLMs, and dialogue models 
• Demonstrated ability in defining, leading and executing challenging research projects
• Strong computer science fundamentals, problem solving skills, programming (Python, C, C++)
• Proven ability to lead interns, PhD students, and junior researchers
• Proven ability to impact product with cutting edge research technology

Minimum Qualifications: 

• PhD in a related technical field such as computer science, statistics, mathematics, machine learning or equivalent years of experience 
• 4+ years of post-PhD experience of building impactful research projects
• Experience with large scale language models, multimodal personalization methods
• Track record of publications in top-tier international research venues (e.g. ICLR, AAAI, NeurIPS, ACLs, EMNLP, ICML) 
• Experience with large-scale data collection and annotation best practices

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with multimodal machine learning with images, videos, audio, text, speech
• Experience with basic and advanced computer vision algorithms

Compensation

In the United States, work locations are assigned a pay zone which determines the salary range for the position. The successful candidate’s starting pay will be determined based on job-related skills, experience, qualifications, work location, and market conditions. These pay zones may be modified in the future.

• Zone A (CA, WA, NYC): The base salary range for this position is $230,000 - $335,000 annually
• Zone B: The base salary range for this position is $219,000 - 318,000 annually
• Zone C: The base salary range for this position is $196,000 - $285,000 annually

This position is eligible for equity in the form of RSUs

If you are not based in the same location(s) listed for this role and are open to relocation, we encourage you to apply to take advantage of our generous relocation policy.

At Snap, we believe that having a team of diverse backgrounds and voices working together will enable us to create innovative products that improve the way people live and communicate. Snap is proud to be an equal opportunity employer, and committed to providing employment opportunities regardless of race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding, age, sexual orientation, military or veteran status, or any other protected classification, in accordance with applicable federal, state, and local laws. EOE, including disability/vets. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please don’t be shy and contact us at accommodations-ext@snap.com.

Our Benefits: Snap Inc. is its own community, so we’ve got your back! We do our best to make sure you and your loved ones have everything you need to be happy and healthy, on your own terms. Our benefits are built around your needs and include paid parental leave, comprehensive medical coverage, emotional and mental health support programs, and compensation packages that let you share in Snap’s long-term success!