VP of Research, Machine Learning (ML), Artificial Intelligence (AI) Required, Work From Home
Next Step Systems Open · verified Oct 22, 2026 At a glance
VP-level Machine Learning Engineering role at Next Step Systems. Remote, United States · full-time · $225,000–$275,000 base.
aimlroles summary, based on the employer's posting.
What you'll do
- Set the research agenda for core intelligence, covering how the system represents context, remembers, reasons, plans, and coordinates work
- Choose whether to build new model designs or adapt available open-source and commercial models
- Create evaluations for practical usefulness, reliability, safety, and behavior over time
- Make alignment, safety, and guardrails central to product decisions while exploring new research methods
- Work with product and application engineering to shape early intelligence features and set research standards
What you bring
- A track record of building or advancing machine-learning systems that run in production
- Artificial intelligence experience and strong judgment about model behavior, failure cases, and long-term trade-offs
- Willingness to complete a 60-minute coding assessment
Who this fits
This is a VP-level research role for a hands-on builder who takes ownership and can make consequential calls with incomplete information. The position is fully remote.
From the employer
VP of Research, Machine Learning (ML), Artificial Intelligence (AI) Required, Work From Home
The VP of Research, Machine Learning (ML) will own the research and intelligence direction of this system. The VP of Research, Machine Learning (ML) will define how Artificial Intelligence (AI) reasons, evaluates, and improves in a product used with high frequency. This position is 100% Remote.
MUST BE WILLING TO TAKE A 60 MINUTE CODING ASSESSMENT.
VP of Research, Machine Learning (ML) Responsibilities:
- Set and evolve the research direction for the core intelligence, including context representation, memory, reasoning, planning, and orchestration.
- Decide when to design new model architectures versus adapting or leveraging frontier open-source or commercial models.
- Define evaluation frameworks that measure real-world usefulness, robustness, safety, and long-term behavior, not benchmark vanity.
- Own alignment, safety, and guardrail strategy as first-class product concerns.
- Guide exploration of frontier techniques such as retrieval-augmented training, mixture-of-experts, distillation, multi-agent orchestration, and multimodal systems.
- Shape early product intelligence direction in close partnership with product and application engineering.
- Set the technical bar for research rigor, judgment, and taste across the organization.
VP of Research, Machine Learning (ML) Qualifications:
- Deep experience building or evolving real Machine Learning (ML) systems used in production.
- Artificial Intelligence (AI) experience required.
- Strong technical judgment around model behavior, failure modes, and long-horizon trade-offs.
- A builder’s mindset, you care about systems that work in the real world, not just ideas.
- Comfortable making irreversible or high-impact decisions with incomplete information.
- Obsession with evaluation, correctness, and how systems behave over time.
- High ownership mentality; you operate as a founder, not a manager.
- Tech Stack: GPU-based training and inference system, JAX, Python, and PyTorch.
Benefits include medical insurance, Dental, Vision, Savings Plan Options, PTO, etc.
Keywords: San Francisco CA Jobs, VP of Research, Machine Learning (ML), AI, Artificial Intelligence, GPU, JAX, ML, Machine Learning, Python, PyTorch, Work From Home, Remote, California Recruiters, IT Jobs, California Recruiting
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