Job Title

Company DescriptionYAL.ai (Your Alternative Life) is an innovative communication and discovery platform that transforms how people connect, interact, and collaborate. Powered by advanced AI, the platform offers secure instant messaging, group discussions, interactive communities, and VoIP calling. Leveraging a robust Zero Trust Architecture and on-device AI models, YAL.ai emphasizes user privacy, data security, and real-time fraud detection. With features such as multilingual automatic speech recognition (ASR), personalized recommendations, and multilingual support, YAL.ai empowers users to create meaningful connections and engage in a safe, privacy-focused digital environment. The company is built on a foundation of trust and innovation, encapsulated in their mission, /"Where AI Meets Integrity./"About the RoleWe are seeking a Principal Speech Scientist to lead and drive innovation in speech and language technologies. In this senior individual contributor and technical leadership role, you will define the strategic direction for speech science initiatives, mentor a team of researchers and engineers, and deliver cutting-edge solutions that power our products.ResponsibilitiesDefine and execute the long-term technical vision and roadmap for speech science research and developmentLead the design and development of advanced speech recognition, synthesis, speaker verification, and natural language understanding systemsDrive innovation by staying at the forefront of academic research and translating state-of-the-art techniques into production-ready solutionsMentor and guide senior and junior scientists, fostering a culture of technical excellence and intellectual curiosityCollaborate cross-functionally with product, engineering, and design teams to align research efforts with business objectivesRepresent the organization at conferences, publish in top-tier venues, and contribute to the broader research communityEstablish best practices for experimentation, model evaluation, and data pipeline developmentInfluence organizational strategy by providing expert input on build-vs-buy decisions and technology partnershipsQualificationsPh.D. / Masters with a background in Speech Processing, Computational Linguistics, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or a closely related field7+ years of industry experience in speech and audio processing, with a proven record of shipping products at scaleDeep expertise in end-to-end ASR, TTS, speaker diarization, speech enhancement, speech translation or related domainsProficiency in Python and deep learning frameworks (PyTorch, TensorFlow); experience with large-scale distributed trainingDemonstrated ability to translate ambiguous business problems into well-defined research agendasExcellent communication skills with the ability to influence technical and non-technical stakeholders at all levelsExperience leading or mentoring teams of scientists and engineersNice to HaveExperience with large language models and multimodal architecturesFamiliarity with on-device/edge deployment and model optimization techniquesTrack record of securing patents in speech or audio technologyStrong publication record in popular speech conferences / journals