Senior Applied Scientist

Montreal, QCOnsiteFull TimeSeniorPosted 11 days ago

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Required skills

enterprise AI
natural language processing
Retrieval Augmented Generation
information retrieval
semantic search
question answering
agentic systems
transformer-based language models
LLM
Python

Nice to have

AI coding assistants
LLM-as-judge
non-deterministic systems
lexical approaches
linguistics-based approaches
classical Information Retrieval

Role summary

The Senior Applied Scientist will focus on enterprise AI, specifically leveraging cutting-edge natural language processing (NLP) to build core language technologies for AI products. Responsibilities include designing, developing, and optimizing AI solutions, particularly in areas like Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG), information retrieval, semantic search, question answering, and agentic systems. The role involves applying and scaling transformer-based language models for real-time enterprise user experiences. Collaboration with ML developers and platform teams is key, as is mentoring junior scientists and contributing to applied science excellence. Qualifications include 4+ years of industry experience in NLP production systems, strong Python skills with relevant tools, and familiarity with cloud ML infrastructure.

Shape the future of enterprise AI technology

Do you want to turn cutting-edge natural language processing into products impacting millions of users? As a Senior Applied Scientist in the Product Engineering group, you will help build the language technologies at the core of our AI products.

You’ll be contributing directly to the design, evaluation, and implementation of advanced AI solutions at the intersection of Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG), information retrieval, semantic search, question answering, and agentic systems, always with real-world constraints in mind.

As one of our Senior Applied Scientists (NLP), you will:

Design, develop, and optimize modern language-based AI solutions, from data and modeling choices to evaluation strategies and production constraints and guardrails.

Apply and serve transformer-based language models at scale, delivering reliable, real-time experiences to enterprise users.

Collaborate closely with machine learning developers and the machine learning platform team to accelerate research and innovation cycles.

Contribute to research and development processes that foster efficiency, rigor, and a culture of applied science excellence.

Mentor junior applied scientists, supporting their growth and helping raise the overall level of expertise within the group.

Promote promising research and best practices in our applied science community.

Share our innovations externally through technical blog posts, presentations, or other thought leadership content.

Here is what will qualify you for the role:

At least 4 years of industry experience applying NLP to production systems.

Demonstrated skill in evaluating and improving LLM-based systems: building test sets, defining offline and online metrics, using LLM-as-judge methods with awareness of their limits, and catching regressions in non-deterministic systems.

Strong Python skills and fluency with typical tools (HuggingFace, Pandas/Polars, MLFlow), with the habit of writing tested, maintainable code that runs in production.

Familiarity with cloud infrastructure environments for Machine Learning such as AWS, Azure or GCP.

Experience working with AI coding assistants in your own development workflow, and a point of view on where they help and where they don’t.

Proven ability to collaborate effectively with other functions: You can clearly explain scientific risks and technical tradeoffs to Product Managers, Designers, and Software Developers.

What will make you stand out:

Experience building agentic systems: tool use, multi-step planning, orchestration, guardrails, and especially how you evaluated them and handled failure modes.

Familiarity with traditional lexical and linguistics-based approaches, including classical Information Retrieval and Search

Experience with the safety and trust side of enterprise AI, such as data governance and legal compliance

International work experience and a demonstrated ability to collaborate across cultures and perspectives.

Do you think you can bring this role to life?Join the Coveolife!

We encourage all qualified candidates to apply regardless of, for example, age, gender, disability, gaps in CV, national or ethnic background.

This job description was written by humans, assisted by AI. We may leverage technology in our hiring process to help us see the person behind the resume.

Coveo is committed to providing accessible employment practices. If you require accommodation due to a disability at any point during the recruitment process, please contact HR@Coveo.com to discuss your needs.

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