Research Scientist / Applied Scientist
Also written as Research Scientist, Applied Scientist, Research Engineer, AI Researcher
AI research roles. Research Scientists invent new methods and usually publish papers; Applied Scientists (a common Amazon and Microsoft title) adapt research to real products; Research Engineers build the code and infrastructure that research runs on. Most research scientist roles expect a PhD or a strong publication record.
Think of it like
The research chef inventing new dishes, the head chef adapting them for the menu, and the kitchen engineer who builds the equipment.
Junior or senior?
Publications (NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, ACL, CVPR) and real contributions matter more than titles.
Senior sounds like
Can explain their own contribution to a paper or model, not just the team's.
Ask them
“What was your specific contribution to your most important paper or model?”