Lead Data Scientist - Artificial Intelligence R&D

• Stay current with emerging AI research by conducting ongoing literature reviews across core AI workstreams such as speech/voice vision multimodal systems retrieval and autonomous agents and actively apply relevant innovations to Cat Digital's AI R&D portfolio.
• Assess and compare academic and industry advancements to guide architecture choices experimentation strategy and production-readiness decisions.
• Synthesize research findings into practical enterprise-relevant insights that influence prototyping priorities and long-term AI strategy.
• Lead hands-on experimentation and development of advanced machine learning and generative AI solutions including LLMs multimodal models (text vision speech) retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) agents and simulation/digital-twin use cases.
• Design build and curate high-quality datasets for training fine-tuning validation and evaluation of AI models at scale.
• Define and execute rigorous model evaluation strategies including benchmarking model quality accuracy latency cost robustness and safety tradeoffs.
• Drive rapid prototyping and POC development with a strong focus on reproducibility experiment tracking and observability to enable informed technical decision-making.
• Research compare and optimize model architectures algorithms and AI system designs to improve performance scalability and enterprise readiness.
• Partner with Product and Engineering teams to translate research outcomes and prototypes into production-ready capabilities including defining technical requirements and success metrics.
• Communicate complex technical findings and insights clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders influencing roadmap and investment decisions.

• Structured AI Technology Research: Demonstrated experience conducting structured technology research and literature reviews in advanced AI domains with the ability to translate theoretical innovation into applied enterprise-grade solutions.
• Applied Statistics & Quantitative Methods: Extensive experience applying statistical thinking to experimentation evaluation and decision-making in ambiguous research-driven environments.
• Analytical Rigor & Attention to Detail: Proven ability to design precise experiments validate assumptions and ensure accuracy and reproducibility of results.
• Advanced Machine Learning & AI: Extensive knowledge of modern ML techniques including deep learning generative AI NLP computer vision and multimodal systems with hands-on implementation experience.
• Model Evaluation & Optimization: Strong experience evaluating model quality and system-level tradeoffs across accuracy latency cost and scalability dimensions.
• Programming Expertise: Extensive proficiency in Python for AI and ML development including use of modern AI frameworks and tooling.
• Data Engineering & Access: Strong understanding of data storage retrieval and processing systems required to support large-scale training and experimentation workflows.
• Requirements & Systems Thinking: Ability to define technical and non-functional requirements that bridge research engineering and production concerns.

• Master's or PhD degree in Data Science Computer Science Machine Learning Statistics Applied Mathematics Engineering or a closely related technical field.
• Extensive experience building and deploying advanced ML models beyond traditional analytics use cases.
• Extensive proficiency in Python (NumPy Pandas PyTorch LangChain etc.); ability to write clean maintainable production-oriented code and contribute to shared AI infrastructure.
• Strong hands-on experience with generative AI large language models deep neural networks and modern ML frameworks.
• Demonstrated experience designing evaluation frameworks and benchmarks for AI systems.
• Familiarity with AI infrastructure cloud platforms (AWS Azure) and scalable experimentation environments.
• Advanced experience with version control experiment tracking and collaborative development (e.g. Git-based workflows).
• Experience working in Agile cross-functional product development environments.
• Prior exposure to industrial manufacturing heavy equipment or complex physical systems is a strong plus but not required.

• Medical dental and vision benefits*
• Paid time off plan (Vacation Holidays Volunteer etc.)*
• 401(k) savings plans*
• Health Savings Account (HSA)*
• Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs)*
• Health Lifestyle Programs*
• Employee Assistance Program*
• Voluntary Benefits and Employee Discounts*
• Career Development*
• Incentive bonus*
• Disability benefits
• Life Insurance
• Parental leave
• Adoption benefits
• Tuition Reimbursement

What We Do

Cat Digital is the digital and technology arm of Caterpillar Inc. responsible for bringing digital capabilities to our world-famous yellow iron. With over 1.5M connected assets worldwide our teams use data technology advanced analytics and AI capabilities to help our customers build a better world.

Why Work With Us

The Cat Digital team is at the forefront of Caterpillar’s evolution. We take pride in solving complex problems by building new systems from the ground up. On our team you’ll leverage data from across our entire enterprise to find solutions that open a new world of possibilities for our customers and dealers. Join us in building a better tomorrow.

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