Director of AI Research & Development

About the role

Maya is looking for a visionary Director to lead its AI Research & Development pillar. This senior position will shape the multi‑year research strategy, turning cutting‑edge AI advances into high‑impact fintech solutions that drive product innovation, operational efficiency, and customer value.

Key responsibilities

• Define and own the multi‑year research roadmap aligned with Maya’s business goals and AI vision.
• Lead applied research projects that create novel algorithms, models, and data‑driven solutions for lending, fraud detection, marketing, and intelligent operations.
• Translate complex business challenges into advanced AI, mathematical, or optimization formulations and deliver measurable outcomes.
• Architect end‑to‑end research solutions from concept through production deployment.
• Serve as the principal technical advisor to the CTO and executive leadership on AI and optimization strategy.
• Drive cross‑functional initiatives with product, engineering, risk, and operations teams to ensure research translates into production‑grade solutions.
• Build, lead, and develop a world‑class research organization, setting hiring standards and nurturing future research leaders.

Required profile

• PhD or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Operations Research, Mathematics, Statistics, Engineering, AI, or a related quantitative discipline.
• 10+ years of experience in research, machine learning, AI, or optimization.
• 5+ years of experience building and leading high‑performing research teams.
• Proven track record of defining and executing multi‑year research strategies and influencing executive leadership.

Required skills

• Large Language Models (LLMs)
• Audio/Speech AI
• Operational Research and Optimization
• Decision Science
• Causal AI
• Neuro‑symbolic AI