Senior Applied Research Scientist

Job Title: Senior Research Scientist   

We are seeking a highly skilled Senior Research Scientist with a strong technical background and proven expertise in machine learning and artificial intelligence. As the AI Research team at GEICO continues to grow, you will serve as a tech lead driving end-to-end AI initiatives—from problem framing and experimentation to production deployment and adoption. You will set technical direction, architect scalable solutions, and mentor juniors while partnering closely with product, engineering, and domain experts to deliver measurable business impact.  

Key Responsibilities:   

• Lead AI/ML Solution Design & Delivery: Lead the design and delivery of ML and GenAI solutions for complex, ambiguous, cross-functional problems. Define success metrics, validation plans, and pathways to production.  

• Technical Roadmapping & Partnership: Partner with product, engineering, and domain experts to translate business needs into feasible technical roadmaps, de-risking assumptions and aligning milestones to outcomes.  

• Experimentation & Causal Inference: Design online experiments and quasi-experimental analyses; instrument and monitor business KPIs to quantify value and inform decision-making.  

• Mentorship & Coaching: Mentor junior scientists and engineers, share best practices, and cultivate a high bar for scientific rigor, coding standards, and reproducibility.  

• Communication & Stakeholder Management: Communicate approach, trade-offs, and results to technical and non-technical audiences; provide realistic estimates and influence decision-making across the organization.  

Key Competencies:   

• Technical Leadership: Proven ability to set technical direction and make authoritative decisions on modeling approaches, architecture, and trade-offs.  

• Scientific Rigor: Strong experimental design, statistical reasoning, and causal inference skills with an emphasis on measurable business outcomes.  

• Creativity & Problem Solving: Demonstrated ability to break down ambiguous problems and deliver pragmatic, scalable solutions.  

• Communication & Influence: Clear, structured communication that bridges technical and business stakeholders.  

• Mentorship: Track record of elevating teammates through code/design reviews and knowledge sharing.  

• Strategic Thinking: Aligns day-to-day execution with long-term platform, data, and business strategy.  

• Adaptability: Thrives in a fast-paced environment and adjusts to evolving priorities and constraints.  

Minimum Requirements:   

• Master’s or PhD in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Statistics, Mathematics, or a related quantitative field, or equivalent practical experience.  

• 3+ years of experience developing, deploying, and operating AI/ML models in production.  

• Strong proficiency in Python, data processing, and SQL, and in AI/ML frameworks such as PyTorch and Scikit-learn.  

• Experience designing online experiments and conducting causal analyses; demonstrated ability to define, instrument, and monitor business KPIs.  

• Proven experience leading end-to-end AI/ML initiatives and partnering cross-functionally with product and engineering.  

Preferred Qualifications:  

• Experience with the design, development, and optimization of high-quality prompts and templates that guide the behavior and responses of LLMs.  

• Experience with GenAI quality management, including evaluators, red-teaming, guardrails, and human-in-the-loop systems.  

• Familiarity with insurance operations and model governance in regulated environments.  

Work Locations: Candidates must be open to the following locations:  

• Chevy Chase, Maryland  

• Palo Alto, CA  

• New York City, NY