Director of Applied AI Research & Development

About the role

Inception42, a G42 company, is looking for an accomplished Director of R&D in Applied AI to lead its applied AI research function. The role will set technical direction across multiple flagship programs, including foundation language models and multi‑agent systems, while overseeing high‑stakes client delivery tracks.

Key responsibilities

• Own the active R&D portfolio end‑to‑end, defining roadmap, milestones, resource allocation and quarterly reviews.
• Direct foundation language model programs from pre‑training through release, including instruction tuning, alignment and safety evaluation.
• Oversee client delivery tracks that productise research outputs, running regular progress reviews and reallocating resources as needed.
• Represent Inception R&D at CEO, group‑executive and Board forums, delivering impactful presentations.
• Lead strategic external partnerships with academic labs, frontier‑model groups, hyperscalers and safety teams.
• Manage and mentor a team of applied scientists, handling hiring, performance, growth and talent strategy.

Required profile

• M.Sc. or Ph.D. in Computer Science, Engineering or an AI‑related field.
• Minimum 10 years of AI/ML experience, with at least 4 years in a technical leadership or director‑level role.
• Demonstrated ownership of a production foundation‑model release end‑to‑end.
• Strong publication record in major NLP/ML venues or equivalent product‑driven research/IP track.
• Production experience with Arabic or other low‑resource‑language NLP at scale.
• Experience deploying AI models in regulated or government contexts, including content moderation and policy‑aligned guardrails.
• Hands‑on familiarity with agentic‑AI architectures such as planning, tool use and multi‑agent simulation.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

What we offer

• An open, diverse and inclusive culture that encourages personal growth and groundbreaking innovation.
• Outstanding learning, development and career progression opportunities through structured training and high‑tech projects.
• A competitive remuneration package with healthcare, education support, generous leave benefits and other perks.