Staff Research Scientist at Guild

United States

$220k - $260k

At Guild, we believe talent is everywhere and that opportunity should be too. We continue to have our home and headquarters in Denver, but we have embraced a distributed model of working to reach the best talent in the United States. While some roles may require proximity to our Denver office, roles based outside of our Denver office can sit in any of the following 32 states: AZ, CA, CO, CT, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, KS, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, NC, NH, NJ, NV, NY, OH, OK, OR, PA, SC, TN, TX, UT, VA, WA, WI and Washington D.C. Please only apply if you are able to live and work full-time in one of the states listed above. State locations and specifics are subject to change as our hiring requirements shift. If you are an Internal Candidate, please apply via our Internal Job Board. ---- To thrive as a company and meet our impact goals, we must cultivate a culture of high-performance. We know managers are often the single-largest driver of employee satisfaction and growth, and our talent is our biggest asset. Because of that, we’ve identified consistent expectations for all of Guild’s people managers — helping you know what to expect from your experience here. ---- Staff Research Scientist We are seeking a Staff Research Scientist to lead deep, foundational AI research and post-research implementation that powers our next-generation enterprise AI platform, Apollo. This is a discovery-driven position focused on building new AI capabilities, not feature iteration, spanning advanced platform capabilities including memory architectures, orchestration layers (intent, tone, personality), reinforcement learning systems, and comprehensive evaluation frameworks. You will drive full end-to-end enterprise adoption by translating cutting-edge research into production-ready systems in close partnership with engineering teams. As a Staff Research Scientist, you will: Conduct advanced research across memory systems, orchestration frameworks, reinforcement learning, and evaluation layers, contributing approximately 20% of your time to deep exploration of novel problem spaces. Design novel AI architectures that support persistent memory, controllable agent behavior, and enterprise-grade reliability, applying first-principles thinking to produce scalable and production-ready solutions. Develop advanced evaluation frameworks that assess not only model performance, but also input integrity, output quality, safety, and alignment, going beyond traditional benchmarking. Explore and prototype new AI platform layers through continuous discovery and experimentation, maintaining a research cadence that drives long-term platform differentiation. Translate cutting-edge research into production-ready capabilities in partnership with engineering teams, bridging the gap between research and real-world deployment. Publish internal research memos, technical documentation, architectural proposals, external white papers, and external patents to advance both internal knowledge-sharing and external thought leadership. What You'll Build: Advanced memory layers, including long-term, contextual, and structured memory systems Orchestration systems for intent, tone, and personality control Reinforcement learning pipelines for behavior optimization Input/output evaluation systems beyond traditional model benchmarking New foundational capabilities that enable scalable enterprise AI adoption You are a strong fit for this role if you have: MS or PhD in Machine Learning, AI, or a related field Strong background in deep learning, reinforcement learning, and large language models Experience with model evaluation methodologies and safety frameworks Demonstrated ability to design novel AI systems from first principles A strong research-to-production mindset, with proven experience taking research from concept to deployed capability Preferred Competencies Prior experience publishing research or contributing to external technical publications or patents We are committed to equal pay for equal work and believe in compensation transparency. All salary ranges are standardized nationwide and will not vary by region. This role offers a competitive total compensation package, including a base salary of $220,000 - $260,000 and stock options. Compensation offered will be based on a combination of factors such as experience, competencies, and internal equity. Posting Date: This role will be open for a minimum of 3 days. Guild partners with the country’s most innovative employers, including Chipotle, Target, Walgreens, JPMorgan Chase, Hilton, Spectrum, PepsiCo, Tyson, and more, to build the talent needed for today and a resilient workforce for tomorrow. Guild helps employers identify, develop, and mobilize internal talent, enabling workers to gain skills for in-demand roles and companies to stay agile. By connecting employees to real-world learning, coaching, and career support, and providing companies with actionable talent insights, Guild transforms all talent into high-impact contributors and positions companies for long-term, sustainable growth. For more information, visit https://www.guild.com. Guild is a female-founded, certified B Corp. The company has been recognized by Fortune’s Change the World list (2021, 2025), the Forbes Cloud 100 (2020–2025), Great Place to Work (2022–2025), CNBC’s Disruptor 50 (2021–2024), TIME’s 100 Most Influential Companies (2022), Inc.’s Best-Led Companies (2021), Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas (2020), and B Lab’s Best for the World (2019), among many others. Guild is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let your recruiter know. We currently offer the following benefits: Access to low-cost, high-quality health care options through Collective Health and Kaiser (due to coverage limitations, Kaiser is currently only available in CA & CO) Access to a 401k to help save for the future Vacation policy to rest and recharge 8 days of fully-paid sick leave, to take the time to heal and or recover Family-friendly benefits, including 12 weeks of parental leave for non-birthing parents and 18-20 weeks for birthing parents; 4-week ramp-up period for when employees return from a leave of 6 weeks or more; as well as employer-paid short-term and long-term disability, employer-sponsored life insurance, fertility and caregiving benefits. Well-rounded wellness benefits including free and low cost mental health resources and financial wellbeing support services Education benefits and tuition assistance to help your future development and growth PRIVACY NOTICE I understand that I am applying for employment with Guild and am being asked to provide information in connection with my application. I further understand that Guild gathers this information through a third-party service provider and that Guild may use other service providers to assist in the application process. Guild may share my information with such third-party service providers in connection with my application and for the start of employment. I understand and agree to Guild's use of my information in accordance with Guild's Privacy Policy and, for applicants that are residents of the State of California, Guild's Applicant Privacy Notice and California Notice at Collection.