Senior Director - AI Research (PhD)

TitleSenior Director - AI Research (Head - AI TIC) Technology / Artificial Intelligence India 12-15+ YearsSummaryWe are seeking a visionary AI leader to establish and scale a world-class AI Technology & Innovation Center (TIC). The ideal candidate will bring deep expertise in Generative AI, LLMs, multimodal AI, and enterprise AI product development, along with a proven track record of commercializing cutting-edge research. This role offers the opportunity to define AI strategy, build elite teams, and drive breakthrough innovation with global impact.LocationIndiaYour Future EmployerA rapidly growing technology-driven organization investing significantly in AI innovation, offering the opportunity to build a global AI Centre of Excellence from the ground up and influence enterprise transformation at scale.ResponsibilitiesDefining and executing the long-term AI strategy aligned with business growth and transformation objectives.Championing Generative AI, LLMs, multimodal AI, and advanced machine learning initiatives across the organization.Architecting scalable AI ecosystems, including MLOps and LLMOps frameworks for enterprise deployment.Leading the development, fine-tuning, and deployment of proprietary LLMs and AI-powered solutions.Establishing governance frameworks for ethical AI, compliance, security, and bias mitigation.Driving rapid prototyping and scaling research innovations into production-ready AI products.Building and expanding the AI Centre of Excellence to support multiple strategic initiatives simultaneously.Implementing AI infrastructure, automated monitoring, CI/CD pipelines, and performance optimization frameworks.Recruiting, mentoring, and leading high-performing teams of AI researchers, engineers, and MLOps professionals.Collaborating with product, engineering, and business leaders to embed AI into enterprise workflows.Representing the organization at global AI conferences, research forums, and strategic partnerships.Driving innovation, thought leadership, and technology transfer from research to commercial products.RequirementsMaster's or Ph.D. from a premier institute such as IIT, IISc, MIT, Stanford, or equivalent in Computer Science, AI, or related disciplines.12-15+ years of technology leadership experience with at least 5+ years in AI/ML and Generative AI.Proven experience building and scaling AI teams, research groups, or Centers of Excellence.Strong publication record in leading AI conferences and journals such as NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, AAAI, or CVPR.Demonstrated expertise in LLMs, Generative AI, NLP, Computer Vision, multimodal models, and advanced ML techniques.Experience commercializing AI products from research concepts to market-ready solutions.Hands-on expertise with PyTorch, TensorFlow, Hugging Face, and modern AI development frameworks.Strong exposure to AWS SageMaker, Azure ML, GCP AI, and cloud-based AI ecosystems.Deep understanding of MLOps, LLMOps, CI/CD for ML, AI security, and scalable deployment architectures.Experience leading teams of 15-30+ AI researchers and engineers.Patents with demonstrated commercial impact will be an added advantage.Exceptional stakeholder management, communication, and executive leadership capabilities.What's in it for youOpportunity to build and lead a world-class AI Centre of Excellence with global visibility.Full ownership of AI strategy, research direction, and product commercialization roadmap.Access to cutting-edge AI technologies, elite talent, and large-scale enterprise transformation initiatives.Platform to establish industry thought leadership and shape the future of AI innovation globally.Reach UsIf you feel this opportunity is well aligned with your career progression plans, please feel free to reach me with your updated profile at DisclaimerCrescendo Global specializes in Senior to C-level niche recruitment.

We are passionate about empowering job seekers and employers with an engaging and memorable job search and leadership hiring experience. Our expertise spans multiple industries, helping organizations build exceptional teams while enabling professionals to achieve meaningful career growth.NoteDue to high application volume, candidates who do not hear back from us within one week of their application should assume that their profile has not been shortlisted for this opportunity.Profile KeywordsAI Research, Generative AI, Large Language Models, LLMOps, MLOps, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, NLP, Computer Vision, Multimodal AI, AI Product Development, PyTorch, TensorFlow, Hugging Face, AI Leadership