# Principal AI Researcher

**Company**: Workday
**Location**: Pleasanton, CA
**Work arrangement**: hybrid
**Experience**: senior
**Job type**: full-time
**Salary**: $228,000 USD - $342,000 USD
**Category**: Research
**Industry**: Technology

**Apply**: https://workday.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/Workday/job/USA-CA-Pleasanton/Principal-AI-Researcher_JR-0107313?utm_source=yubhub.co&utm_medium=jobs_feed&utm_campaign=apply
**Canonical**: https://yubhub.co/jobs/job_464e4574-02a

## Description

We're seeking a Principal AI Researcher to join our Workday AI Research Team, a newly built organisation dedicated to advancing the state-of-the-art in AI to power the Agentic Enterprise.

As a technical founder and visionary, you will define the frontier of AI research and bridge the gap between groundbreaking theory and massive-scale application.

**Key Responsibilities:**

- Define research direction in Agentic AI and LLMs

- Advance the state of the art in agentic systems, including retrieval, grounding, memory, context, and personalisation

- Conduct foundational model research to advance Workday's proprietary capabilities in pre-training, post-training, and domain-specific alignment for HR and Finance workflows

- Publish and open-source research findings through top-tier venues and strategic releases

- Collaborate with engineering teams to integrate research into production-ready services

- Mentor and foster a culture of scientific rigor and curiosity within the research team

**Requirements:**

- 8+ years of experience in AI/ML research or applied science

- Ph.D. or Master's degree in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Math, Physics, or equivalent technical field

- 4+ years of experience with deep learning frameworks such as PyTorch, JAX, or TensorFlow

- 2+ years of expertise in LLMs or VLMs, specifically in training, alignment, or agentic reasoning frameworks

- Strong history of lead-researcher publications in top AI venues or a proven track record of shipping industry-defining AI innovations

**Nice to Have:**

- Strong background in reinforcement learning, tool-use, or multi-agent systems

- Experience conducting research under real-world constraints, such as latency, cost-to-serve, and enterprise data privacy

- Leadership experience in building a research agenda from the ground up and leading technical strike teams through open-ended problems

- Exceptional ability to translate complex research breakthroughs into strategic value for product leaders and executive stakeholders

- Deep commitment to developing AI that is explainable, fair, and safe for the world's largest workforces

**Salary:** The annualized base salary ranges for the primary location and any additional locations are: Primary Location: USA.CA.Pleasanton Primary Location Base Pay Range: $228,000 USD - $342,000 USD Additional US Location(s) Base Pay Range: $206,000 USD - $370,000 USD

## Skills

### Required
- AI
- ML
- Deep Learning
- LLMs
- VLMs
- Python
- PyTorch
- JAX
- TensorFlow

### Nice to have
- Reinforcement Learning
- Multi-Agent Systems
- Enterprise Data Privacy

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Source: [Apply at workday.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com](https://workday.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/Workday/job/USA-CA-Pleasanton/Principal-AI-Researcher_JR-0107313?utm_source=yubhub.co&utm_medium=jobs_feed&utm_campaign=apply)