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About This Role
About this role:
Wells Fargo’s Model Risk Management (MRM) team is seeking a Senior Quantitative Analytics Specialist (AI Research Scientist – Foundation Models & Agentic AI - Senior AVP ) to support the cutting-edge applied research and development initiatives in Artificial Intelligence, with a focus on building the next generation of Foundation Models, Agentic AI solutions, and Generative AI systems. This role offers a unique opportunity to work at the intersection of AI research and real-world financial applications that impact millions of customers.
In this role, you will:
- Perform highly complex research projects in AI / Generative AI / Agentic AI / Machine Learning from ideation, experimentation, implementation, evaluation and documentation.
- Support building the next generation of foundation models and agentic AI systems - exploration, application, and rigorous evaluation of emerging AI technologies that solve real-world challenges.
- Collaborate closely with interdisciplinary teams, including researchers, data scientists, applied engineers, and domain experts.
- Translate research insights into impactful business solutions, open-source contributions, patents, and publications.
- Contribute to building the next generation of foundation models and agentic AI systems trained / operating on large volumes of heterogeneous data - both structured and unstructured - that enhance Wells Fargo's products, services, and operations.
- Publish in top-tier AI/ML conferences and journals and represent Wells Fargo in the broader AI research community.
Required Qualifications:
- 4+ years of Quantitative Analytics experience, or equivalent demonstrated through one or a combination of the following: work experience, training, military experience, education
- Master's degree or higher in a quantitative discipline such as mathematics, statistics, engineering, physics, economics, or computer science
Desired Qualifications:
- PhD in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, or a closely related computational field, or an MSc with at least 3 years of relevant applied research or industry experience.
- Solid proven research track record with publications in top-tier AI/ML conferences such as NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, NAACL, or EMNLP, combined with a demonstrated interest in translating research into real-world applications that impact millions of customers.
- Deep expertise in one or more specialized areas, including but not limited to: Foundation Models (GPT-4, BERT, LLaMA, Claude), Large Language Models (LLMs), Large Reasoning Models, Multimodal Models, Agentic AI
- Demonstrated ability to apply GenAI / Agentic AI in the full build lifecycle - design, implementation, testing, and iteration - leveraging AI coding copilots (e.g., GitHub Copilot) and agentic coding workflows to accelerate delivery while maintaining enterprise standards
- Hands-on experience with GPU infrastructure, Transformer architecture, modern AI/ML development frameworks and tools such as TensorFlow, PyTorch, Hugging Face, AWS, GCP.
- Strong engineering background with demonstrated ability to contribute to collaborative software engineering projects, including version control, code reviews, and scalable system design.
- Experience with transferring foundation models, LLMs, and agentic AI systems in production
Job Expectations:
- This position offers a hybrid work schedule
- Willingness to work onsite at stated location on the job posting
- This position is eligible for VISA sponsorship
Job Posting Locations:
- Three Wells Fargo Center, CHARLOTTE, NC
- 600 Wells Fargo, MINNEAPOLIS, MN
- Las Colinas Bldg B, Irving Campus, IRVING, TX
- West Des Moines Campus, 800 S Jordan Creek Pkwy, WEST DES MOINES, IA
- D Building,114N Beaumont St -D Bldg., SAINT LOUIS, MO
- 1150 W Washington, TEMPE, AZ
- 333 Market St, SAN FRANCISCO, CA
Pay Range
Reflected is the base pay range offered for this position. Pay may vary depending on factors including but not limited to demonstrated examples of prior performance, skills, experience, or work location. Employees may also be eligible for incentive opportunities. $139,000.00 - $260,000.00Benefits
Wells Fargo provides eligible employees with a comprehensive set of benefits, many of which are listed below. Visit Benefits - Wells Fargo Jobs for an overview of the following benefit plans and programs offered to employees.
- Health benefits
- 401(k) Plan
- Paid time off
- Disability benefits
- Life insurance, critical illness insurance, and accident insurance
- Parental leave
- Critical caregiving leave
- Discounts and savings
- Commuter benefits
- Tuition reimbursement
- Scholarships for dependent children
- Adoption reimbursement
Posting End Date:
18 Oct 2026* Job posting may come down early due to volume of applicants.
We Value Equal Opportunity
Wells Fargo is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, status as a protected veteran, or any other legally protected characteristic.
Employees support our focus on building strong customer relationships balanced with a strong risk mitigating and compliance-driven culture which firmly establishes those disciplines as critical to the success of our customers and company. They are accountable for execution of all applicable risk programs (Credit, Market, Financial Crimes, Operational, Regulatory Compliance), which includes effectively following and adhering to applicable Wells Fargo policies and procedures, appropriately fulfilling risk and compliance obligations, timely and effective escalation and remediation of issues, and making sound risk decisions. There is emphasis on proactive monitoring, governance, risk identification and escalation, as well as making sound risk decisions commensurate with the business unit’s risk appetite and all risk and compliance program requirements.
Applicants with Disabilities
To request a medical accommodation during the application or interview process, visit Disability Inclusion at Wells Fargo.
Drug and Alcohol Policy
Wells Fargo maintains a drug free workplace. Please see our Drug and Alcohol Policy to learn more.
Wells Fargo Recruitment and Hiring Requirements:
a. Third-Party recordings are prohibited unless authorized by Wells Fargo.
b. Wells Fargo requires you to directly represent your own experiences during the recruiting and hiring process.
Salary Context
This $139K-$260K range is above the median for Research Scientist roles in our dataset (median: $199K across 63 roles with salary data).
Role Details
About This Role
Research Scientists push the boundaries of what AI can do. They design experiments, develop novel architectures, publish papers, and translate research breakthroughs into production capabilities. This is where the fundamental advances happen, from attention mechanisms to diffusion models to reasoning chains.
The work is intellectually demanding and often ambiguous. You might spend months on an approach that doesn't pan out. The best research scientists combine deep mathematical intuition with engineering pragmatism. They know when to go deep on theory and when to run experiments. They read papers voraciously and can spot incremental contributions from genuine breakthroughs.
Across the 9,079 AI roles we're tracking, Research Scientist positions make up 2% of the market. At Wells Fargo, this role fits into their broader AI and engineering organization.
Research Scientist roles are concentrated at major AI labs (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google DeepMind, Meta FAIR) and well-funded AI startups. The competition is intense. PhD is effectively required for most positions, and publication track record matters. Compensation is among the highest in AI, reflecting both the scarcity of talent and the strategic importance of research breakthroughs.
What the Work Looks Like
A typical week includes: reading and discussing recent papers with your team, designing and running experiments on multi-GPU clusters, analyzing results and iterating on hypotheses, writing up findings for internal review or publication, and collaborating with engineering teams to productionize promising results. The ratio of thinking to coding is higher than in engineering roles.
Research Scientist roles are concentrated at major AI labs (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google DeepMind, Meta FAIR) and well-funded AI startups. The competition is intense. PhD is effectively required for most positions, and publication track record matters. Compensation is among the highest in AI, reflecting both the scarcity of talent and the strategic importance of research breakthroughs.
Skills Required
PhD strongly preferred for most roles. Deep expertise in a specific area (NLP, computer vision, reinforcement learning, multimodal) is expected. PyTorch is the standard. Publication track record matters. Strong mathematical foundations in linear algebra, probability, optimization, and information theory are assumed.
Beyond the fundamentals, companies value experience with large-scale distributed training, novel architecture design, and the ability to bridge theory and practice. Understanding of current frontier topics (reasoning, multimodal, long-context, alignment) is essential. Code quality matters more than many researchers expect. Labs want researchers who can implement their ideas cleanly.
Strong research postings specify the research area, mention the team you'd join, and describe the problems they're working on. They often list recent publications from the team. Vague 'AI research' postings without specifics usually mean the company wants to sound impressive but doesn't have a real research agenda.
Compensation Benchmarks
Research Scientist roles pay a median of $222,200 based on 749 positions with disclosed compensation. Senior-level AI roles across all categories have a median of $229,300. This role's midpoint ($199K) sits 10% below the category median. Disclosed range: $139K to $260K.
Across all AI roles, the market median is $213,000. Top-quartile compensation starts at $263,911. The 90th percentile reaches $318,400. For comparison, the highest-paying categories include AI Safety ($256,000) and Research Engineer ($252,000). By seniority level: Entry: $111,000; Mid: $193,200; Senior: $229,300; Director: $272,300; VP: $235,830.
Wells Fargo AI Hiring
Wells Fargo has 11 open AI roles right now. They're hiring across AI/ML Engineer, Research Scientist, AI Engineering Manager, AI Software Engineer. Positions span West Des Moines, IA, US, St. Louis, MO, US, Charlotte, NC, US. Compensation range: $260K - $305K.
Location Context
Across all AI roles, 6% (531 positions) offer remote work, while 8,478 require on-site attendance. Top AI hiring metros: New York (3,078 roles, $221,000 median); San Francisco (2,646 roles, $261,000 median); Los Angeles (1,486 roles, $210,000 median).
Career Path
Common paths into Research Scientist roles include PhD Student, Research Engineer, Postdoc.
From here, career progression typically leads toward Research Lead, Distinguished Scientist, VP of Research.
The PhD is the entry point for most paths. Choose your advisor and research area carefully since they'll define your first industry position. Publish consistently, contribute to open-source projects in your area, and build relationships at conferences. Industry research offers better compensation and compute resources than academia, but the pressure to show product impact is real.
What to Expect in Interviews
Research interviews are multi-stage: a research talk (present your best paper), technical deep-dives on your methodology, and often a 'research proposal' exercise where you design an experiment to test a hypothesis. Coding rounds test implementation ability alongside theoretical knowledge. Be prepared to implement a paper from scratch and discuss the design choices the authors made. Strong candidates can critique papers constructively and identify gaps in experimental methodology.
When evaluating opportunities: Strong research postings specify the research area, mention the team you'd join, and describe the problems they're working on. They often list recent publications from the team. Vague 'AI research' postings without specifics usually mean the company wants to sound impressive but doesn't have a real research agenda.
AI Hiring Overview
The AI job market has 9,079 open positions tracked in our dataset. By seniority: 106 entry-level, 4,384 mid-level, 3,343 senior, and 1,246 leadership roles (Director, VP, C-Level). Remote roles make up 6% of the market (531 positions). The remaining 8,478 roles require on-site or hybrid attendance.
The market median for AI roles is $213,000. Top-quartile compensation starts at $263,911. The 90th percentile reaches $318,400. Highest-paying categories: AI Safety ($256,000 median, 66 roles); Research Engineer ($252,000 median, 457 roles); AI Engineering Manager ($251,622 median, 55 roles).
Research Scientist roles are concentrated at major AI labs (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google DeepMind, Meta FAIR) and well-funded AI startups. The competition is intense. PhD is effectively required for most positions, and publication track record matters. Compensation is among the highest in AI, reflecting both the scarcity of talent and the strategic importance of research breakthroughs.
The AI Job Market Today
The AI job market spans 9,079 open positions across 16 role categories. The largest categories by volume: AI/ML Engineer (6,862), AI Product Manager (453), AI Software Engineer (451). These three account for the majority of open positions, though smaller categories often have higher per-role compensation because of specialized skill requirements.
The seniority mix tells a story about where AI teams are in their maturity. Entry-level roles (106) are outnumbered by mid-level (4,384) and senior (3,343) positions, reflecting that most companies are past the 'build a team from scratch' phase and need experienced engineers who can ship production systems. Leadership roles (Director, VP, C-Level) total 1,246 positions, representing the bottleneck between technical execution and organizational strategy.
Remote work availability sits at 6% of all AI roles (531 positions), with 8,478 requiring on-site or hybrid attendance. The remote share has stabilized after the post-pandemic correction. Senior and specialized roles (Research Scientist, ML Architect) are more likely to be remote-eligible than entry-level positions, partly because experienced hires have more negotiating power and partly because these roles require less hands-on mentorship.
AI compensation is structured in clear tiers. The market median sits at $213,000. Top-quartile roles start at $263,911, and the 90th percentile reaches $318,400. These figures include base salary with disclosed compensation. Total compensation (including equity, bonuses, and sign-on) runs 20-40% higher at companies that offer those components.
Category matters for compensation. AI Safety roles lead at $256,000 median, while Prompt Engineer roles sit at $141,440. The spread between highest and lowest-paying categories reflects the premium on specialized technical skills versus broader analytical roles.
The most in-demand skills across all AI postings: Python (1,649 postings), Aws (898 postings), Azure (723 postings), Rag (671 postings), Gcp (536 postings), Pytorch (434 postings), Claude (410 postings), Kubernetes (406 postings). Python dominates, appearing in the vast majority of role descriptions regardless of category. Cloud platform experience (AWS, GCP, Azure) is the second most common requirement. The newer entrants to the top skills list (RAG, vector databases, LLM APIs) reflect the shift from traditional ML toward generative AI applications.
Frequently Asked Questions
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