Research Scientist - Interpretable ML

Machine Learning

Full Time

POSITION SUMMARY

Sony AI are seeking a Research Scientist for Interpretable ML to join our newest team in Barcelona and work with our Gastronomy Flagship Project team. Ideally you are an experienced Research Scientist firmly rooted in AI, but also bringing affinity with psychology or computer-human interaction to the table. You will be supporting us to develop new AI technologies in the area of Interpretable ML and immediately apply those to a challenging project that will grant notoriety once achieved. To this end you are eager to create partnerships with leading scientists and engineers to support your research. You should enjoy exploring the forefront of what is technologically possible, thrive in the face of the uncertainty and the experimental nature of working in a research environment, and find purpose in translating between novel research ideas and their application to challenging problems in a high-risk, high-reward setup. We offer the opportunity to join a responsible AI lab, where your manager will support you to make an impact and be recognised for your work. You’ll enjoy working with a diverse and international team in a flexible setting recognizing different personalities and lifestyles. Find out more here: https://ai.sony/projects/gastronomy/, and if you’re ready to take on the challenge with us, we want to hear from you.

You Will

• Carry out research developing novel, practically relevant approaches to interpreting and/or explaining internal reasoning mechanisms and complex outputs of AI/ML systems to end users.
• Investigate and implement (up to proof-of-concept stage) new algorithms and approaches to solving AI/ML problems.
• Represent your area of expertise and corresponding work package(s) within a bigger project and coordinate with other stakeholders (researchers and engineers) towards the overall project success.
• Write code to support research, usually in Python.
• Write reports and give presentations for internal audiences.
• Write papers for and give presentations at academic conferences.
• Closely collaborate with colleagues in Spain, US, Japan and Switzerland

You Will Bring

• PhD in computer science (or equivalent in education and experience) with focus on AI/ML and significant engagement with questions of interpretability, explainability, or related.
• Experience with NLP.
• Experience programming in Python.
• Passion for making AI/ML work in realistic domains.
  
  
• Plus: Experience with Natural Language Generation.
  
• Plus: Experience with Ontologies or structured knowledge bases.
  
• Plus: Experience as a software engineer (or equivalent).
  
• Plus: Experience with the supervision of interns and/or mentoring of junior team members.
• Plus: Experience with user testing/evaluations.
• Strong Plus: Experience with Graph Neural Networks.

Key Attributes

• The ability and the willingness to work with research scientists and engineers in an ambitious research project with several unknowns, developing mutual understanding and a joint culture.
• The ability to deliver on tight deadlines and adapt to evolving or changing requirements.
• The ability and the willingness to work as a member of a distributed team spanning several time zones and bringing together people from diverse cultural and personal backgrounds.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English, as well as interpersonal skills including the ability to articulate to both technical and non-technical audiences
• Plus: Japanese language skills.

Your New Office

In our Barcelona office you can enjoy a modern and open working environment right off Plaça de Catalunya and next door to Barcelona’s medieval Gothic Quarter. Located in a quiet side street, in a renovated and energy efficient historic building, it is very convenient to reach the office by public transport. Sony AI’s private work space shares common lounge areas and coffee bars with some key players of Barcelona’s vibrant startup scene, providing a wealth of opportunities to exchange ideas and learn from other tech players and creative minds. You can join some of the sports and wellness activities, enjoy your lunch or coffee on the rooftop terrace, or you can walk to one of the many historic sights, restaurants, and shopping centres nearby.

Overall, with its location right at the Mediterranean and in close proximity to the Pyrenees, Barcelona offers a great variety of leisure activities all year round. Add the Catalan and Spanish food culture, 300 annual days of sunshine, and one of Europe’s richest cultural and artistic ecosystems to the mix, and you can rest assured that you will not run out of sources of inspiration for new projects anytime soon.

Life at Sony Research

Our work environment is diverse and motivated with an innovative open mindset. Sony AI is committed to building a diverse team of people with different characters, stories and skillsets because we know this drives innovation and creativity. Our commitment to nurturing a friendly and supportive place of work where everyone has a sense of belonging and inclusion creates an atmosphere of learning and personal growth. We focus on achieving healthy work-life balance for our teams, supported by hybrid and flexible working. You will work on exciting projects at the cutting edge of AI that are in the realms of entertainment or for the betterment of society, and you will have access to the most innovative technologies from across the Sony universe and the opportunity to partner with Sony’s leading companies. When projects are finished, we publish our work, and all our contributors are recognised on research pieces, at top-tier conferences, and in journals. You will also have access to workshops and development programs to expand your knowledge and skills. We want you to drive your career, find your direction and take authorship of your personal story at Sony AI, while enjoying the security and the resource-rich environment that comes with being part of a global corporation that has R&D in its DNA.

Bring your uniqueness to Sony

We are passionate about creating a culture that promotes equity and cultivates inclusion, diversity, and belonging. We want employees with diverse backgrounds and perspectives that will stimulate innovation and have a direct impact on our creation of social value to fulfil Sony’s purpose – ‘to fill the world with emotion, through the power of creativity and technology’. We want you to bring your unique self to work and help shape our culture.