Senior AI Research Scientist – NLP, Information Retrieval & LLMs (Spain Remote)

Company Description

We are a team of passionate, curious and diverse professionals who care about each other, our work, our company and the world. We are looking for someone who combines skill in machine learning with an ability to connect with people and see the wider context for a range of business problems. 

You will be responsible for assessing state-of-the-art techniques, researching novel ideas to improve them and applying them to large scale problems, mainly in the domain of recommender systems and NLP (from semantic search to deep agentic deep research). To solve problems effectively, you will need to be able to build relationships and understand the business context in which we are operating. This position will suit someone who has a deep understanding of machine learning and is comfortable presenting clearly and winsomely to a non-technical audience.  

NielsenIQ helps companies to meet the needs of people all over the world for food, health, hygiene, tech and durable products. Since 1923, NIQ has moved measurement forward for industries and economies across the globe. This position opens the opportunity to research and apply state-of-the-art AI/ML techniques to strategic global projects.  

Job Description

• Research, evaluate, and adapt state-of-the-art techniques to solve large-scale AI problems.  

• Lead the development and application of machine learning innovations to complex business challenges with minimal supervision. 

• Drive innovation in Information Retrieval, Product Matching, Recommendation Systems,    NLP, and Generative AI.  

• Assess the applicability of emerging research and identify opportunities for adoption across multiple business initiatives.  

• Design and conduct advanced experiments and feasibility studies to guide technical strategy.  

• Develop scalable, reproducible, and maintainable machine learning solutions and research frameworks.  

• Collaborate with Applied AI and Engineering teams to enable adoption of research outcomes.  

• Mentor and support other scientists and contribute to the technical growth of the team.  

• Lead or contribute to scientific publications, patents, and conference submissions.  

• Communicate technical vision, research findings, and strategic recommendations to stakeholders across technical and business functions.  

• Promote engineering excellence, scientific rigor, and best practices across research initiatives. 

Qualifications

• Master's, or PhD in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Mathematics, Physics, or a related quantitative discipline.  

• 7+ years of experience in Machine Learning, Deep Learning, or AI research.  

• Demonstrated expertise in training transformer-based models for Information Retrieval, Recommendation Systems, Product Matching, NLP, or related domains.  

• Experience training custom SLMs and /or small reasoning models. 

• Advanced experience with Python, PyTorch, Hugging Face, Pandas, Scikit-learn, and Git.  

• Strong experience with Transformer architectures, embeddings, and representation learning.  

• Experience with vector databases (e.g., FAISS, ChromaDB, Pinecone) and retrieval-based systems.  

• Ability to understand, evaluate, and extend ideas from scientific literature.  

• Strong analytical, problem-solving, stakeholder management, and communication skills. 

• Proven ability to independently drive research initiatives from concept through adoption.

Good to Have 

• PhD in a relevant field.  

• Publications in leading conferences (e.g., ACL, EMNLP, SIGIR, KDD, NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, RecSys).  

• Experience mentoring researchers or leading technical initiatives.  

• Experience with RAG architectures, LLMs, and agent-based frameworks.  

• Experience with Knowledge Graphs.  

• Experience in retail, consumer intelligence, ecommerce, or FMCG domains. 

• Experience with Databricks, SQL, Elasticsearch. 

Additional Information

Salary: 55.300– €70.000 gross per year.  This role might also be eligible for a performance-based bonus. Placement within the range will depend on objective criteria including experience, skills, and internal equity considerations. We are committed to equal pay and pay transparency. Remuneration decisions are made using gender-neutral and objective criteria.​​

Employees enjoy a Home Office working model (Spain-based), with occasional team meetings at the Madrid office.

Our Benefits

• Flexible working environment
• Volunteer time off
• LinkedIn Learning
• Employee-Assistance-Program (EAP)

NIQ may utilize artificial intelligence (AI) tools at various stages of the recruitment process, including résumé screening, candidate assessments, interview scheduling, job matching, communication support, and certain administrative tasks that help streamline workflows. These tools are intended to improve efficiency and support fair and consistent evaluation based on job-related criteria. All use of AI is governed by NIQ’s principles of fairness, transparency, human oversight, and inclusion. Final hiring decisions are made exclusively by humans. NIQ regularly reviews its AI tools to help mitigate bias and ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations. If you have questions, require accommodations, or wish to request human review were permitted by law, please contact your local HR representative. For more information, please visit NIQ’s AI Safety Policies and Guiding Principles: https://nielseniq.com/global/en/info/niqs-ai-safety-policies/

About NIQ

NIQ is the world’s leading consumer intelligence company, delivering the most complete understanding of consumer buying behavior and revealing new pathways to growth. In 2023, NIQ combined with GfK, bringing together the two industry leaders with unparalleled global reach. With a holistic retail read and the most comprehensive consumer insights—delivered with advanced analytics through state-of-the-art platforms—NIQ delivers the Full View™. NIQ is an Advent International portfolio company with operations in 100+ markets, covering more than 90% of the world’s population.

For more information, visit NIQ.com

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Our commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

At NIQ, we are steadfast in our commitment to fostering an inclusive workplace that mirrors the rich diversity of the communities and markets we serve. We believe that embracing a wide range of perspectives drives innovation and excellence.  All employment decisions at NIQ are made without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, or gender identity), national origin, age, disability, genetic information, marital status, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws. We invite individuals who share our dedication to inclusivity and equity to join us in making a meaningful impact. To learn more about our ongoing efforts in diversity and inclusion, please visit the https://nielseniq.com/global/en/news-center/diversity-inclusion