Director of AI Research & Development_

Chicago

**Career Area:**

Business Technologies, Digital and Data

**Job Description:**

**Your Work Shapes the World at Caterpillar Inc.**

When you join Caterpillar, you're joining a global team who cares not just about the work we do – but also about each other. We are the makers, problem solvers, and future world builders who are creating stronger, more sustainable communities. We don't just talk about progress and innovation here – we make it happen, with our customers, where we work and live. Together, we are building a better world, so we can all enjoy living in it.

_Cat® Digital is the digital and technology arm of Caterpillar Inc., leveraging the latest technologies to build industry leading digital and analytics solutions for our customers and dealers. With over 1.5M connected Cat equipment assets worldwide, our business, network of dealer partners and customers in the industries we serve are continuously generating data to which advanced analytics and AI capabilities are applied to help our customers build a better world._

**Job Summary:**

Cat Digital is seeking an experienced, data science leader to head research and development of Generative AI technologies, and the prototyping of capabilities to be leveraged across our Digital ecosystem. For the **Director of AI Research & Development,** we are seeking an individual with deep knowledge, academic pedigree, and a proven experience in delivering/leveraging ML, AI, NLP, & LLMs. In this role, you will be instrumental to setting the technical direction, driving innovation, and rapidly proving value with Generative AI for the entire Cat Digital portfolio.

**What You Will Do:**

+ Participate in enterprise AI working groups, councils and other AI governing bodies

+ Influence strategic decisions around Cat Digital’s AI offerings

+ Work with Digital product teams to determine the highest impact use cases for AI/GenAI and then execute prototypes as structured designs of experiments

+ Lead the research, development, and application of AI/GenAI technologies for Cat Digital

+ Work with leaders across the tech industry, some of the most progressive AI thought leaders in academia, and emerging players in the industry

+ Accountable for hiring, managing, and mentoring a team or multiple teams of data scientist, data analysts and prompt engineers in delivering the common department goals.

+ Responsible for all personnel issues and performance evaluation of subordinates, as well as overall employee satisfaction for the division.

+ Follow general policies and guidelines for projects under his/her control to ensure specific, management goals are met, and desired results are achieved. Impacts key quality goals including customer satisfaction, continuous improvement, and reoccurring revenue, timeliness, accuracy, efficiency, cost savings, process quality, etc.

**What You Will Have:**

+ **Collaboration & Leadership in Analytics:** Extensive experience working among and leading experts in data science; providing visionary leadership, and structured discipline to execution.

+ **Machine Learning, AI & GenAI:** Proficiency with deep learning frameworks such as TensorFlow. Proficiency with Python and basic libraries for machine learning. Ability to visualize & synthesize results. Full stack experience building GenAI solutions; data prep & vectorization, embedding/chunking, prompting, search/summary/RAG/finetuning.

+ **Analytic Platforms & Framework:** Extensive knowledge utilizing cloud native data science platforms, components and frameworks; AWS, Azure, Snowflake, preferred.

+ **Research** **:** Expert knowledge of formulating, executing and monitoring industry research. Staying aware of emerging trends and ensuring the team’s work remains relevant and leading edge.

+ **Business Comprehension:** In-depth understanding of business scenarios, developing hypotheses, applying analytic approaches, and objectively measuring performance & value.

**Considerations for Top Candidates:**

+ PhD or Master’s degree desired, preferably in Computer Science, Engineering, Machine Learning, Statistics, Economics, Physics, or a similar field with quantitative coursework, or equivalent work experience.

+ Ideally, 10+ years of experience in Machine Learning, delivering complex prototyping solutions to production.

+ Extensive proven, hands-on experience in data science. Expert-level experience with Natural Language Processing (NLP), Natural Language Understanding (NLU) and Natural Language Generation (NLG).

+ Extensive experience with advanced data analysis and statistical methods such as regression, hypothesis testing, ANOVA, statistical process control, etc.

+ Practical applications of machine learning techniques such as Clustering, Logistic Regression, CART, Random Forests, SVM or Neural Networks.

+ Expert-level knowledge of deep learning frameworks such as TensorFlow, PyTorch, and other open sources libraries / APIs or similar. Strong technical and problem-solving skills and evidence of continuous learning in the analytics field

+ Breadth and depth of knowledge in the application of statistical and/or digital methods to solve business problems

+ Competency in coaching and mentoring junior Data Scientists in the creation, validation, and application of prototypes as well as in implementing digital solutions

+ Demonstrated proficiency applying Python (NumPy, SciPy, pandas, etc) programming to solve business challenges

+ Experience with SQL, Data Visualization tools, Snowflake / AWS / Tableau visualization is a plus

+ Experience with cloud technologies (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, etc)

+ Strong initiative to research and apply new methods and digital technologies to exceed customer expectations.

+ Good communication, interpersonal, and collaboration skills across multiple teams

+ Published contributions to the AI Research community is highly desired.

+ Experience in industrial/manufacturing industry is helpful but not required.

**What You Will Get:**

Working with a Fortune 100 leader, you can build your career on a global scale and take advantage of development opportunities with emerging technologies. We’ve created an inclusive environment for you to explore your passions, make an impact and do the work that really matters. Join Us.

**Additional Information:**

This position has the option to be based out of our Digital hubs in Chicago IL, Peoria IL, Westminster, CO or Dallas TX offices, with a flexible hybrid work environment. This position is also eligible to be fully remote given the right candidate. In this case, the successful candidate will need access to a major airport to travel to our hubs as needed.

\#LI-Hybrid

\#BI (used to post on Built In Chicago)

**About Caterpillar**

Caterpillar Inc. is the world’s leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, off-highway diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and diesel-electric locomotives. For nearly 100 years, we’ve been helping customers build a better, more sustainable world and are committed and contributing to a reduced-carbon future. Our innovative products and services, backed by our global dealer network, provide exceptional value that helps customers succeed.

**Summary Pay Range:**

$181,800.00 - $272,640.00

Compensation and benefits offered may vary depending on multiple individualized factors, job level, market location, job-related knowledge, skills, individual performance and experience. Please note that salary is only one component of total compensation at Caterpillar.

**Benefits:**

Annual incentive bonus plan*

Medical, dental, and vision coverage

Paid time off plan (Vacation, Holiday, Volunteer, Etc.)

401k savings plan

Health savings account (HSA)

Flexible spending accounts (FSAs)

Disability benefits

Life Insurance

Parental leave

Healthy Lifestyle Programs

Employee Assistance Programs

Voluntary Benefits and Employee Discounts

Tuition Reimbursement

Career Development

_*Subject to annual eligibility and incentive plan guidelines_ .

Relocation is available for this position.

Visa sponsorship available for eligible applicants.

**Posting Dates:**

July 1, 2024 - July 14, 2024

Any offer of employment is conditioned upon the successful completion of a drug screen.

EEO/AA Employer. All qualified individuals - Including minorities, females, veterans and individuals with disabilities - are encouraged to apply.

Not ready to apply? Join our Talent Community (eamery.com/caterpillarinc/talcom) .

There’s more to work at Caterpillar than just the work itself. We hire smart, friendly people and it shows in our culture. We hold ourselves to high standards and make sure our values of integrity, excellence, teamwork, commitment and sustainability come to life in the way we work. We make sure our employees feel continuously challenged while also supported. We provide professional growth opportunities, including leadership programs. We celebrate the diversity of our team, while also working together as one Caterpillar.

Our culture, like everything at our company, is made possible by each employee’s contribution. Person by person, we create the environment we work in, and we are proud of the Caterpillar we’ve built.