AI Research Scientist Jobs in San Jose, CA
AI Research Scientist jobs in San Jose are in high demand, concentrated in North San Jose, Downtown, and the Alviso corridor across semiconductor, enterprise software, and consumer AI sectors. Companies like ByteDance, TikTok, and Honda Research Institute USA are actively posting openings in the area. Find a role that fits below and apply directly.
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- Health, dental, vision, life, disability insurance
- Retirement Benefits: 401(k) with company match
- Paid Time Off: 20 days of vacation per year, accruing at a rate of 6.15 hours per pay period for the first five years of employment
- Sick Time: 40 hours/year (increased to 69 hours/year for Seattle) including 5 discretionary sick days per instance
- Maternity Leave (Short-Term Disability + Baby Bonding): 28-30 weeks
- Baby Bonding Leave: 18 weeks
- Holidays: 13 paid days per year
Note: By applying to this position you will have an opportunity to share your preferred working location from the following: Kirkland, WA, USA; New York, NY, USA; San Jose, CA, USA.
Minimum qualifications:
- PhD degree in Economics, Computer Science, Machine Learning, or a related field.
- 2 years of experience leading a research agenda.
- One or more publications in an economics or AI journal or conference (such as the ICSE or FSE).
Preferred qualifications:
- Applied experience with NLP/LLM frameworks (e.g., embeddings, text classification, prompt engineering, fine-tuning/distillation) applied to quantitative research or social science problems.
- Demonstrated proficiency in Python and standard scientific computing/ML libraries (pandas, NumPy, PyTorch/JAX, scikit-learn, statsmodels).
- Deep theoretical and practical expertise in causal inference, experimental and quasi-experimental design, and econometrics.
- Track record of developing ML solutions for real world problems.
About the job
As an organization, Google maintains a portfolio of research projects driven by fundamental research, new product innovation, product contribution and infrastructure goals, while providing individuals and teams the freedom to emphasize specific types of work. As a Research Scientist, you'll setup large-scale tests and deploy promising ideas quickly and broadly, managing deadlines and deliverables while applying the latest theories to develop new and improved products, processes, or technologies. From creating experiments and prototyping implementations to designing new architectures, our research scientists work on real-world problems that span the breadth of computer science, such as machine (and deep) learning, data mining, natural language processing, hardware and software performance analysis, improving compilers for mobile platforms, as well as core search and much more.
As a Research Scientist, you'll also actively contribute to the wider research community by sharing and publishing your findings, with ideas inspired by internal projects as well as from collaborations with research programs at partner universities and technical institutes all over the world.
Our team works across all of Google to architect the foundational intelligence layer for Google's agentic ecosystem, engineering the data, insights, and feedback loops that empower developers and autonomous agents. Our work powers product decisions within our organization and helps Google to understand the impact of AI on the socio-technical systems that drive our business.
We value technical curiosity, collaborative visioning, and a bias toward action that celebrates fast failures that lead to clear learnings.
US: $174000 - $252000 (USD) + 15% bonus target + equity + benefits
Learn more about benefits at Google.
Responsibilities
- Take nebulous socio-technical AI impact questions and turn them into concrete, validated, measurement strategies. Scale research strategies through Data Science and UXR partnerships.
- Apply causal frameworks (e.g., difference-in-differences, instrumental variables, regression discontinuity, synthetic controls, quasi-experiments) to understand AI impact from observational and behavioral data.
- Advise Product areas and Product teams on data driven system improvements e.g., how to better utilize AI in the software development lifecycle, how to improve product strategy to meet new development approaches, etc.
- Mentor junior quantitative researchers and data scientists, establishing best practices for statistical inference, study design, and empirical reproducibility.
- Health, dental, vision, life, disability insurance
- Retirement Benefits: 401(k) with company match
- Paid Time Off: 20 days of vacation per year, accruing at a rate of 6.15 hours per pay period for the first five years of employment
- Sick Time: 40 hours/year (increased to 69 hours/year for Seattle) including 5 discretionary sick days per instance
- Maternity Leave (Short-Term Disability + Baby Bonding): 28-30 weeks
- Baby Bonding Leave: 18 weeks
- Holidays: 13 paid days per year
Note: By applying to this position you will have an opportunity to share your preferred working location from the following: Kirkland, WA, USA; New York, NY, USA; San Jose, CA, USA.
Minimum qualifications:
- PhD degree in Economics, Computer Science, Machine Learning, or a related field.
- 2 years of experience leading a research agenda.
- One or more publications in an economics or AI journal or conference (such as the ICSE or FSE).
Preferred qualifications:
- Applied experience with NLP/LLM frameworks (e.g., embeddings, text classification, prompt engineering, fine-tuning/distillation) applied to quantitative research or social science problems.
- Demonstrated proficiency in Python and standard scientific computing/ML libraries (pandas, NumPy, PyTorch/JAX, scikit-learn, statsmodels).
- Deep theoretical and practical expertise in causal inference, experimental and quasi-experimental design, and econometrics.
- Track record of developing ML solutions for real world problems.
About the job
As an organization, Google maintains a portfolio of research projects driven by fundamental research, new product innovation, product contribution and infrastructure goals, while providing individuals and teams the freedom to emphasize specific types of work. As a Research Scientist, you'll setup large-scale tests and deploy promising ideas quickly and broadly, managing deadlines and deliverables while applying the latest theories to develop new and improved products, processes, or technologies. From creating experiments and prototyping implementations to designing new architectures, our research scientists work on real-world problems that span the breadth of computer science, such as machine (and deep) learning, data mining, natural language processing, hardware and software performance analysis, improving compilers for mobile platforms, as well as core search and much more.
As a Research Scientist, you'll also actively contribute to the wider research community by sharing and publishing your findings, with ideas inspired by internal projects as well as from collaborations with research programs at partner universities and technical institutes all over the world.
Our team works across all of Google to architect the foundational intelligence layer for Google's agentic ecosystem, engineering the data, insights, and feedback loops that empower developers and autonomous agents. Our work powers product decisions within our organization and helps Google to understand the impact of AI on the socio-technical systems that drive our business.
We value technical curiosity, collaborative visioning, and a bias toward action that celebrates fast failures that lead to clear learnings.
US: $174000 - $252000 (USD) + 15% bonus target + equity + benefits
Learn more about benefits at Google.
Responsibilities
- Take nebulous socio-technical AI impact questions and turn them into concrete, validated, measurement strategies. Scale research strategies through Data Science and UXR partnerships.
- Apply causal frameworks (e.g., difference-in-differences, instrumental variables, regression discontinuity, synthetic controls, quasi-experiments) to understand AI impact from observational and behavioral data.
- Advise Product areas and Product teams on data driven system improvements e.g., how to better utilize AI in the software development lifecycle, how to improve product strategy to meet new development approaches, etc.
- Mentor junior quantitative researchers and data scientists, establishing best practices for statistical inference, study design, and empirical reproducibility.
See All 105+ AI Research Scientist Jobs in San Jose
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Find AI Research Scientist JobsAI Research Scientist Job Market in San Jose
Who's Hiring
- ByteDance53
- TikTok34
- Honda Research Institute USA11
- Google4
- TikTok USDS JV4
Top Industries Hiring
- Technology & Software
- Science & Research
AI Research Scientist Jobs in San Jose: Frequently Asked Questions
How do I get a ai research scientist job in San Jose?
The strongest path in San Jose is targeting the technology and semiconductor companies clustered in North San Jose and the Alviso innovation corridor, where AI research teams are largest and most active. A doctoral degree or strong publication record in machine learning, deep learning, or natural language processing gives you a clear edge here. Candidates who can demonstrate applied research experience through open-source projects or conference papers stand out in this market.
Which companies hire ai research scientists in San Jose?
Employers hiring ai research scientists in San Jose right now include ByteDance, TikTok, and Honda Research Institute USA, based on current listings on Migrate Mate as of September 2026. San Jose's hiring base leans toward established semiconductor firms, enterprise cloud companies, and well-funded AI-focused startups, many of which maintain dedicated research labs rather than embedding researchers inside product teams.
Are there remote ai research scientist jobs in San Jose?
Yes, though remote availability depends heavily on the role's focus. About 11% of ai research scientist openings tied to San Jose are remote or hybrid as of September 2026, with pure-research and modeling roles more likely to offer flexibility than positions requiring lab access or hardware collaboration. In San Jose specifically, hybrid arrangements are most common at larger enterprise employers in the North San Jose tech corridor.
How can I get a ai research scientist job in San Jose with little or no experience?
The most realistic entry path in San Jose is joining a research team as a research associate or junior scientist, roles that several North San Jose semiconductor and enterprise AI companies post specifically for recent graduates. San Jose Community College partnerships and joint research programs with nearby universities give candidates a practical local network. Building a GitHub portfolio with reproducible research, contributing to an open-source ML project, and targeting AI-adjacent titles like research engineer or data scientist can open the door to a full research role faster than applying cold.
Which industries hire the most ai research scientists in San Jose?
The sectors hiring the most ai research scientists in San Jose are Technology & Software and Science & Research, based on current listings on Migrate Mate as of September 2026. San Jose's position as the core of Silicon Valley means these sectors maintain permanent, in-house research functions rather than relying on contract or consulting arrangements, which keeps full-time ai research scientist demand consistently high.
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See All 105+ AI Research Scientist Jobs in San Jose
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