Chief Scientist

WHO ARE WE?

Afiniti is a leading provider of artificial intelligence that improves customer experience — making moments of human connection more valuable. Afiniti's patented technology pairs customers and contact center agents based on how well they are likely to interact, leading to better experiences across the entire customer journey. Its technology is used globally in telecommunications, banking, insurance, healthcare, and travel. To learn more, visit www.afiniti.com.

PURPOSE

Afiniti is looking for a Chief Scientist who is passionate about AI and mathematics, with a track record of launching outstanding AI products. In this role, you will lead and inspire a team of expert scientists while building the next generation of contact center technology.

Our new Chief Scientist will own the development of new and innovative solutions in customer engagement, as well as:

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Inspire, create, and refine viable business ideas that seek to address future business needs.
• Own the strategic vision for Afiniti’s research, and help to communicate that vision across the entire organization.
• Define team structure and ambitiously hire senior leaders across the organization to support current, upcoming, and future business requirements.
• Work with the C-suite to define clear priorities and communicate them to functional teams for execution.
• Actively seek to extend Afiniti’s patent portfolio.
• Improve algorithms to meet client demand and sustain Afiniti’s market edge in AI/ML.
• Build tools to help businesses derive maximum insights from our data.
• Explore and optimize the qualitative side of the research process, including potential areas for automation, NLP, and machine learning.
• Successfully identify and develop emergent technologies to lead the way for future programs in AI and R&D, spanning multiple projects and business requirements.
• Develop and mentor teams of R&D scientists and software engineers towards our common goal of using AI to create a better customer experience.
• Incubate and implement strategic R&D programs, together with Afiniti’s multiple business units.
• Responsible of all data science projects to develop new features, new solutions, and provide knowledge about datasets: early case assessment, knowledge extraction, text feature analysis, full content text processing, recommender systems, classifiers ensembles, predictive coding, hierarchical conceptual clustering, extracting knowledge from texts for dynamic graphs and analytical procedures, etc.

YOU WILL HAVE

• 10+ years of experience leading teams or large projects with research experience in AI, Machine learning, Deep learning, Analytics, Optimization, IoT, and Automation;
• Demonstrated deep domain knowledge in research and development of advanced AI/ML applications, within customer engagement areas;
• Experience developing profitable products in the AI/ML space, ideally in customer engagement or contact center environments — or similar domain experience;
• A proven track record as an inventor in AI, through patents and publication record;
• Experience in the development of products in areas such as conversational AI, bots and virtual agents;
• Executive presence – experience and confidence as a C-level leader, with a proven track record of success at this level of seniority;
• Industry experience in telecoms, preferably, or insurance, healthcare, banking;
• A strong background in mathematics, statistics and building AI algorithms;
• Operations research background (desirable);
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to document and explain complex systems to non-technical audiences;
• A curious mind, and ability to identify creative and innovative solutions;
• Experience speaking in public forums.

EDUCATION & QUALIFICATION

• Bachelor's or Masters in Computer Science, Math, Physics, Engineering, or related quantitative field
• PhD in the above field (highly valued).

We believe that richness in diversity is a huge asset for Afiniti. We value both the similarities and differences in everyone who is a part of the Afiniti team. We believe that this diversity builds a stronger organization and is in keeping with the core values of our company. Our policy, therefore, is to provide equal employment opportunities for all applicants and employees without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, related medical conditions, breastfeeding or reproductive health decisions), gender identity or expression, national origin, age, marital status, ancestry, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, personal appearance, genetic information, family responsibilities, matriculation, political affiliation, military or veteran status, or any other category protected under applicable federal, state or local law. This means that we comply with all applicable human rights and employment legislation, and we do not discriminate in any aspect of employment, including recruiting, hiring, compensation, promotions, reductions in force, or terminations.