Senior Research Scientist (Gen AI, LLM, Research)

Company Description

NielsenIQ is a consumer intelligence company that delivers the Full View™, the world’s most complete and clear understanding of consumer buying behavior that reveals new pathways to growth. Since 1923, NIQ has moved measurement forward for industries and economies across the globe. We are putting the brightest and most dedicated minds together to accelerate progress. Our diversity brings out the best in each other so we can leave a lasting legacy on the work that we do and the people that we do it with. NielsenIQ offers a range of products and services that leverage Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence to provide insights into consumer behavior and market trends. This position opens the opportunity to apply the latest state of the art in AI/ML and data science to global and key strategic projects. 

Job Description

NielsenIQ’s Innovation Team is growing our AI capabilities and is now looking to hire an AI/ML Data Scientist in Spain. for the Core Models team, a multidisciplinary team of researchers working on different areas of AI such as recommender systems, extreme classifiers, Large Language Models (LLMs), among others. As part of this team, you will stay up to date with the latest research in AI (with special focus on NLP, but also on Computer Vision and other AI related fields), implement current state-of-the-art algorithms in real-world and large-scale challenging problems as well as proposing novel ideas. 

Your main focus will be creating high-quality datasets for training and fine-tuning Custom Models for the company, LLMs and Recommender Systems, and training them to analyze the impact of the different versions of the data on model’s performance. The selected candidate will be responsible for designing and implementing scalable data pipelines and strategies to support all stages of the R&D process, e.g., fine-tuning or alignment through reinforcement learning. The results of the word will be critical to ensure the robustness, safety, and alignment of our AI models. You will also have the opportunity to produce scientific content such as patents or conference/journal papers.  

Qualifications

Job Responsibilities:  

• Investigate, develop, and apply data pipelines with minimal technical supervision, always ensuring a combination of simplicity, scalability, reproducibility and maintainability within the ML solutions and source code.   
• Train Deep Learning models (Transformer models) and analyze the impact of different versions of the data.  
• Perform feasibility studies and analyze data to determine the most appropriate solution.  
• Drive innovation and proactively contribute to our work on custom Large Language Models.   
• Be able to communicate results to tech and non-tech audiences.   
• To work as a member of a team, encouraging team building, motivation and cultivating effective team relations. 

Qualifications:

Required Education, Skills and Experience: 

• Master's degree in computer science or an equivalent numerate discipline.  
• At least 5+ years’ experience with evidence in a related field.  
• Strong background in computer science, linear algebra, probability.  
• Solid experience in Machine Learning and Deep Learning (special focus on Transformers).  
• Proven experience in Natural Language Processing and Large Language Models.  
• Proven experience building scalable data pipelines and ETLs.  
• Able to understand scientific papers and develop ideas into executable code.   
• Proven track record of innovation in creating novel algorithms and publishing the results in AI conferences/journals.  
• Languages and technologies: Python, SQL, PySpark, Databricks, Pandas/Polars, PyArrow, PyTorch, Huggingface, git.  
• Proactive attitude, constructive, intellectual curiosity, and persistence to find answers to questions.  
• A proficient level of interpersonal and communication skills (English level B2 minimum).  

• Keen to work as part of a diverse team of international colleagues and in a global inclusive culture.  

Additional Information:  

Preferred Education, Skills and Experience: 

• PhD in science (NLP/Data Science is preferred) and specialized courses in one of the above-mentioned fields.  
• Experience working with large real-world datasets and scalable ML solutions.  
• Previous experience in e-commerce, retail and/or FMCG/Consumer Insight business.  
• Agile methodologies development (SCRUM or Scale Agile). 

Additional Information

Our Benefits

• Flexible working environment
• Volunteer time off
• LinkedIn Learning
• Employee-Assistance-Program (EAP)

About NIQ