Senior Staff Applied Research Scientist

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Job Title: Senior Staff AppliedResearchScientist

We are seeking a Senior Staff Applied Research Scientist with profound expertise to drive the direction, vision, and architectural standards for enterprise-scale AI/ML initiatives. As a self-directed technical leader within GEICO’s AI Research team, you will architect and deliver innovative AI/ML solutions that span multiple business domains, define the future of insurance operations, and accelerate transformation across the company. You will set technical strategy, mentor scientists and engineers at all levels, and partner closely with senior leadership to align AI investments with measurable business outcomes.

Key Responsibilities:

• Drive the Direction and Vision of AI/ML Initiatives: Define and own the technical strategy and long-term roadmap for cross-functional AI/ML programs, ensuring alignment with organizational goals and scalable, robust, and compliant delivery.
• Identify High-Impact Opportunities: Surface and shape high-value AI use cases through deep engagement with product, engineering, data, and business leaders; translate ambiguous needs into actionable ML problem statements and investment cases.
• Architecture and Technical Leadership: Architect end-to-end AI/ML systems spanning data acquisition, feature engineering, model development, evaluation, deployment, and monitoring across online and batch environments. Establish standards for scalability, reliability, observability, security, compliance, and cost efficiency.
• Development and Productionization: Lead the full lifecycle of model development from concept to production, including rapid prototyping, A/B testing, causal inference, and continuous improvement with clear delivery plans and milestones.
• ROI Measurement and Experimentation: Establish rigorous KPI frameworks, experimentation strategies, and causal analysis to quantify business impact, prioritize investments, and guide decision-making for portfolio-level initiatives.
• Innovation and Research Integration: Stay current with cutting-edge ML/AI research. Prototype and translate novel techniques into hardened, scalable solutions within GEICO’s insurance ecosystem.
• Define company-level research strategy and investment priorities; cultivate external collaborations (academia/industry) and guide the IP portfolio aligned to high-impact insurance outcomes.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Drive collaboration across Product, Engineering, Data Platform, Governance, Legal, Security, and Operations to ensure responsible, reliable, and effective AI adoption.
• Mentorship and Capability Building: Mentor Applied research scientists and engineers, elevate technical standards, and cultivate a culture of scientific rigor, engineering excellence, and continuous learning.
• Presentations and Executive Engagement: Communicate complex technical concepts clearly to diverse audiences. Present to senior leadership, setting context, explaining trade-offs, and building alignment and enthusiasm for AI/ML initiatives.
• Evangelism and Thought Leadership: Champion the transformative role of AI/ML across GEICO by speaking at internal forums, contributing to leadership discussions, and setting high standards that influence practices beyond your immediate team.
• Strategic and Cultural Leadership: Contribute to the overarching strategy, roadmap, and operating model for AI/ML at GEICO. Foster a culture of craftsmanship, innovation, accountability, and excellence. Qualifications:

• B.S. in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Statistics, Mathematics, or a related quantitative field, PhD is preferred.
• Minimum of 8 years of professional experience delivering applied AI/ML solutions in production, with a proven record of leading end-to-end model development and cross-functional initiatives with enterprise impact.
• Deep theoretical and practical expertise in statistical learning, machine learning, deep learning, and large language models; ability to reason from first principles and select appropriate methods under real-world constraints.
• Demonstrated experience establishing KPI frameworks, experimentation strategies, and causal analysis to quantify model impact and inform prioritization.
• Research experience in computer science, statistics, machine learning, operations research, or related fields; record of patents, publications, or impactful open-source contributions.
• Proven ability to mentor and lead senior research scientists and engineers; establish and enforce high standards for code quality, testing, documentation, and reproducibility.
• Exceptional communication and stakeholder management skills; ability to influence senior executives and drive alignment across product, engineering, and business functions.
• Extensive experience with Python and SQL; deep hands-on expertise with ML frameworks such as PyTorch, TensorFlow, and Scikit-learn.
• Ability to solve complex technical challenges and craft long-term strategic visions that scale across teams and business areas. Preferred Skills:

• Advanced modeling experience in numerical optimization, NLP, LLMs, and reinforcement learning; familiarity with evaluation strategies, guardrails, prompt design, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), red-teaming, and human-in-the-loop workflows.
• Expertise in building domain-specific benchmarks and evaluation suites (including for GenAI/LLMs and safety), and in establishing ethical research practices and data governance suited to regulated environments.
• Experience with responsible AI, model governance, and risk management in regulated environments; familiarity with insurance operations is a plus. Work Locations: Candidates must be open to the following locations:

• Bethesda, Maryland
• Palo Alto, CA
• New York City, NY
• Seattle, WA

This is a unique opportunity to shape the architectural direction of AI at GEICO, define and deliver transformative AI/ML solutions at enterprise scale, and mentor the next generation of Applied research scientists. If you are passionate about driving innovation, measurable business impact, and a culture of excellence, we encourage you to apply.

Annual Salary

$150,000.00 - $300,000.00 The above annual salary range is a general guideline. Multiple factors are taken into consideration to arrive at the final hourly rate/ annual salary to be offered to the selected candidate. Factors include, but are not limited to, the scope and responsibilities of the role, the selected candidate’s work experience, education and training, the work location as well as market and business considerations.

GEICO will consider sponsoring a new qualified applicant for employment authorization for this position. The GEICO Pledge:

Great Company: Protecting customers through life’s twists and turns with innovation and integrity.

Great Careers:Personalized development programs, mentorship, and certification assistance.

Great Culture:Inclusive and collaborative culture rooted in shared success.

Great Rewards:Competitive pay, benefits, and flexibility to support your well-being and future.

The equal employment opportunity policy of the GEICO Companies provides for a fair and equal employment opportunity for all associates and job applicants regardless of race, color, religious creed, national origin, ancestry, age, gender, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, familial status, disability or genetic information, in compliance with applicable federal, state and local law. GEICO hires and promotes individuals solely on the basis of their qualifications for the job to be filled.

GEICO reasonably accommodates qualified individuals with disabilities to enable them to receive equal employment opportunity and/or perform the essential functions of the job, unless the accommodation would impose an undue hardship to the Company. This applies to all applicants and associates. GEICO also provides a work environment in which each associate is able to be productive and work to the best of their ability. We do not condone or tolerate an atmosphere of intimidation or harassment. We expect and require the cooperation of all associates in maintaining an atmosphere free from discrimination and harassment with mutual respect by and for all associates and applicants.