Senior+ AI Researcher (Multimodal Perception Models)

ABOUT US Tavus https://www.tavus.io/ is a research lab pioneering human computing. We’re building AI Humans: a new interface that closes the gap between people and machines, free from the friction of today’s systems. Our real-time human simulation models let machines see, hear, respond, and even look real—enabling meaningful, face-to-face conversations. AI Humans combine the emotional intelligence of humans with the reach and reliability of machines, making them capable, trusted agents available 24/7, in every language, on our terms. Imagine a therapist anyone can afford. A personal trainer that adapts to your schedule. A fleet of medical assistants that can give every patient the attention they need. With Tavus, individuals, enterprises, and developers can all build AI Humans to connect, understand, and act with empathy at scale. We’re a Series A company backed by world-class investors including Sequoia Capital, Y Combinator, and Scale Venture Partners. Be part of shaping a future where humans and machines truly understand each other. The Role We’re hiring a Senior AI Researcher to lead foundational research at the intersection of multimodal modeling and conversational AI. You'll build multimodal models that model interactions between the user and the human like avatar to predict/control the audio/visual/language responses of the avatar. This isn’t a role for someone who just wants to follow the roadmap. You’ll help create it by steering our technical direction and shaping what the next generation of AI Human avatars looks like. Your Mission 🚀 - Lead research on Foundational Multimodal Models for Conversational Avatars — systems that can perceive, reason, and generate across video, audio, and language. - Build and train models using Autoregressive, Predictive (e.g., V-JEPA), and Diffusion-based architectures with a deep focus on temporal and sequential data (not static frames). - Design and execute experiments to predict and control the visual, auditory, and linguistic responses of avatars. - Partner with the Applied ML team to bring research into real-world use cases. - Mentor other researchers and drive excellence across the team. You’ll Bring: - A PhD plus 2–3+ years working hands-on with LLMs, VLMs, or multimodal systems. - Previous experience leading research efforts or mentoring teams. - Expertise in sequence modeling across video, audio, and text — with strong understanding of autoregressive, predictive, and diffusion frameworks. - Experience with large-scale model training and optimization for performance and real-time generation. - Proven ability to translate research ideas into production-grade systems. - Publications in top-tier venues (CVPR, ICCV, NeurIPS, ECCV, ACMMM). - Strong PyTorch skills and comfort moving fluidly between research and engineering. Nice-to-Haves - Broad familiarity with generative AI paradigms and foundation models. - Comfort working across the full research–to–deployment stack. - A builder’s mindset: eager to experiment, iterate, and ship. LOCATION PREFERRED: SAN FRANCISCO (HYBRID) OR LONDON (OFFICE OPENING SOON). REMOTE WITHIN THE U.S. OR EUROPE AVAILABLE FOR EXCEPTIONAL CANDIDATES. BENEFITS & CULTURE When you join Tavus, you’re joining a diverse and supportive team. Our work is driven by our people, and our success is shared by all. This position has a flexible work schedule, unlimited PTO, competitive healthcare, and gear stipends, as well as plenty of fun. At the end of the day, we want Tavus to be a place for you to learn, directly drive impact, and work with a team you love. Tavus is growing fast, and we’d like you to grow with us. If you’re excited to get your hands dirty and help make machines more human, drop your resume and we’ll be in touch. We are not looking for cultural fits, we are looking for culture creators. Diversity is what drives our success – it’s at the core of how we hire, communicate, and work. We are inclusive to all and combine our diverse backgrounds, skill sets, and perspectives to build the best experiences for our clients.