Senior Machine Learning Scientist – Zendesk

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The Agentic Tribe is revolutionizing the chatbot and voice assistance landscape with Gen3, a cutting-edge AI Agent system that is pushing the boundaries of conversational AI. Gen3 is goal-oriented, dynamic, and truly conversational, capable of reasoning, planning, and adapting to user needs in real time. By leveraging a multi-agent architecture and advanced language models, Gen3 delivers personalized and engaging user experiences, moving beyond scripted interactions to handle complex tasks and "off-script" inquiries.

We are delighted to be hiring a Senior Machine Learning Scientist for the AI Agent product at Zendesk. You will own a designated product area and revolutionize how our customers experience our products. This is an exciting opportunity to bridge cutting-edge ML research and real-world impact. You’ll have the freedom to shape the product roadmap, discover innovative ML applications, and collaborate with a talented cross-functional team.

Key Responsibilities

• Design and test novel AI solutions for real business problems.
• Own research projects end-to-end from understanding business requirements to design, implementation, experimentation, and reporting.
• Discuss ideas in the research team and provide peer review for colleagues.
• Keep up with NLP and ML literature and introduce new concepts as potential solutions to business problems.
• Collaborate with AI engineers to implement designs into production systems.
• Use suitable tools and technologies for rapid implementation and quick hypothesis testing, with production considerations in mind.
• Collaborate with Product managers and other stakeholders to shape the product roadmap.

Who You Are (Qualifications)

• Degree in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Statistics, Engineering, Mathematics, or related field.
• Proven record of ML or NLP research, ideally in industry.
• Knowledge of building deep learning neural network architectures, with focus on NLP.
• Ability to translate research ideas into proof-of-concept models.
• Practical approach to researching ML solutions for business problems.
• Significant experience with LLMs and Prompt Engineering.
• Nice to have: experience with AI Agent Context Management.
• Ideally experience with conversational AI and voice technologies, including TTS and STS.
• Positive, proactive team player with strong communication skills in English.

How We Measure Success

• Alignment of work with the product roadmap and strategic goals.
• Effectiveness in collaborating with product managers, engineers, designers, and other stakeholders.
• Discovery and ideation—identifying opportunities within the product area and prioritizing/advocating ideas.

The Interview Process

• Initial Call with Talent Team – 15 minutes
• Interview with a Hiring Team member – 45 minutes
• Take-home technical/research challenge
• Technical interview with two Zendesk scientists – ~1 hour
• Final interview with CTO/Engineering Manager or Director – ~45 minutes

About Zendesk

Zendesk builds software for better customer relationships. It empowers organizations to improve customer engagement and understand customers. Zendesk products are easy to use and implement, enabling fast innovation and scalable growth. More than 100,000 paid customer accounts in over 150 countries use Zendesk.

Zendesk is an equal opportunity employer with ongoing commitments to diversity, equity, and inclusion. We consider applicants without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, medical condition, ancestry, disability, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. By submitting your application, you agree that Zendesk may collect your personal data for recruiting and related purposes; see the Candidate Privacy Notice for details.

Hybrid: This role combines onsite at a local office with remote work flexibility. Specific in-office schedule is determined by the hiring manager.

The Intelligent Heart Of Customer Experience

Zendesk software was built to bring calm to the chaotic world of customer service. We power billions of conversations with brands you know and love.

We are committed to an inclusive, fulfilling experience and provide reasonable accommodations for applicants with disabilities upon request.