Applied AI Engineer

Why Valence

Valence is a Series A (Insight Partners) B2B SaaS, and we've built the first-to-market generative AI leadership coach for large enterprises. Valence is changing how learning and development happens at the world's biggest companies; our mission is to help the world work better together.

We've been featured in the Harvard Business Review and are working with world-class companies like Coca-Cola, Nestlé, General Mills, ServiceNow, AstraZeneca, Experian, Bristol Myers Squibb, and more.

The Role

This is a founding Applied Research ML Engineer role for our Conversational AI coaching product designed for Fortune 500 enterprises. You will rapidly develop our coaching assistant by designing, experimenting and implementing novel LLM-based approaches. This role will also support broader data science and software development. You will report directly to the Head of AI and work closely with the CEO, who drives the product vision.

What You'll Do

• Develop, design and implement improvements in user experience in conversational interactions leveraging LLMs in new ways to advance product goals.
• Evaluate and improve existing conversational (LLM-based) models across effectiveness, scalability, and efficiency.
• Work with the product team to study user behavior and prioritize evolving requirements.
• Experiment at a high velocity, conducting statistical analyses, to optimize for end user experience
• Write, review and deploy code across back, front end as needed.
• Research and development on new Conversational AI approaches leveraging cutting edge LLM/NLP advancements.
• Documentation of models, prompts, and processes to increase replicability and quality improvement.
• Support other coding and feature development where required.
In The First Week, Expect To:
• Ship a product enhancement or idea.
• Get up to speed on the product and the team.
• Meet with the broader team and understand their roles and responsibilities.
• Understand the technical architecture and roadmap.
In The First Month, Expect To:
• Support 1-2 major product features or technical enhancements.
• Review the current AI engineering work and provide inputs on areas for improvement or prioritization.
• Analyze user behavior and make small iterative improvements to conversation quality
• Improve data science infrastructure for conversational quality analysis and improvement
In The First Three Months, Expect To:
• Strategize on and scope multiple large technical projects.
• Drive improvements to our codebase and process to quickly build secure, maintainable software.
• Ensure that all code is of high quality and is easily maintainable.
• Help in defining a conversational AI science roadmap aligned with product priorities.
In The First 6-12 Months, Expect To:
• Continue shipping work on major product initiatives.
• Support the broader technical team and ensure that all work is executed efficiently and effectively
• Become a critical member of the team that is the internal expert in conversational assistants, NLP, and LLMs.
• Take on additional responsibility as a senior member of Valence's ML team.
• Take the product to scale with dozens of Fortune 1000 companies and thousands of users.

What We're Looking For

• Practical experience and theoretical knowledge of conversational systems, with knowledge of voice and dialogue systems, information retrieval and natural language processing.
• 2+ years of professional experience as a software engineer, data scientist or other related role.
• Research or engineering experience evaluating and improving conversational assistant systems
• Experience with LLM model deployment and maintenance, ideally in a prod environment
• Strong skills in Dialogue/NLP/IR/Deep Learning approaches.
• Experience working with Python
• Experience structuring and running data backed experiments.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Experience working with Cloud infrastructure (Elastic Container Service, Terraform, Relational Data Store, etc.)
• Exposure to early-stage startups, preferably B2B Saas.

What You'll Get

• Ownership of projects and strategic priorities regardless of seniority in our learning-focused environment.
• Strong ties to the executive team, a culture of transparency and engagement with strategic decisions.
• Options from day one, which means you will be on the ownership track right away.
• Competitive salary and equity packages.
• Comprehensive health coverage (medical, dental, and vision) from day 1.
• Provision of anything you need to be successful - learning tools, hardware, office equipment, software.
• 401k optionality for US based employees
• Generous PTO, company-wide R&R shutdowns and paid leave for parents.
• A WFH stipend, phone stipend and support to work in a We Work or other space as preferred.

Location and Work Environment

This is a primarily remote, work-from-home role in PT or ET. Candidates must be comfortable balancing colleagues in global timezones, as needed. Candidates must have valid ID/passport and must not have any restrictions on their travel abilities due to work authorization or permits in the US.

Diversity and Inclusion

We are committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive environment where our team members, vendors, contractors and beyond feel valued and supported. We know that our commitment to inclusion and belonging enables us to do our best work overall. We strongly encourage applications from candidates of all backgrounds regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, age, citizenship, disability, and national origin. Accommodations are available upon request for candidates taking part in all aspects of the hiring and selection process. We know applying for a job can be intimidating, please don't hesitate to reach out - Allison Langille, Head of People [redacted].