At Schwab, you are empowered to make an impact on your career. Here, innovative thought meets creative problem solving, helping us “challenge the status quo” and transform the finance industry together.

At the heart of innovation at Schwab, the AI Incubation and Enablement Team is where cutting-edge ideas come to life. Our mission is to develop new and novel AI applications that transform the way Schwab serves its clients, enhancing experiences and driving value across the organization. We don’t just solve today’s challenges, we anticipate tomorrow’s opportunities, pioneering solutions that position Schwab as a leader in financial services innovation.

As Schwab’s central AI business enablement team, we bridge the gap between research, technology, and business units, ensuring that AI-powered innovation is integrated seamlessly and strategically throughout the organization. From exploring transformative AI technologies to delivering practical applications, our team is dedicated to empowering every corner of Schwab with the tools, insights, and capabilities to succeed in an increasingly AI-driven world.

The AI Incubation and Enablement team is looking for a talented, hands-on Director of AI R&D responsible for driving innovation and developing cutting-edge AI solutions to improve business operations and the client experience. This position will be focused on leading the organization in developing and applying research practices, prompt engineering and model evaluation while collaborating with engineers on rapid, iterative software development using Large Language Model

The Director of AI R&D combines deep technical expertise with strategic business acumen to advance our AI capabilities. You will be responsible for establishing research priorities, overseeing and participating in technical implementations, and ensuring alignment with business objectives.

What you’ll do:

• You are comfortable bringing structure to ambiguous problems and diving deep into research to solve them, while also being able to translate research outcomes into production-quality applications.
• You have exceptional strategic planning capabilities, bridging the gap between theoretical research and practical applications, and the expertise to identify opportunities where AI can create significant value.
• You can architect complex AI systems that handle real-world financial data and stay deeply current with AI research to evaluate emerging techniques for business impact.
• You attract top technical talent, mentor researchers and engineers, and foster a culture of innovation and continuous improvement on the team.
• You are a strong communicator across diverse audiences and are skilled at driving organizational change through aligning different groups around a shared AI vision.

Required Qualifications:

• Ph.D. in Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics, or a related field or equivalent industry experience.
• 10+ years of experience in AI/ML/NLP research and development, including 5+ years in leadership positions.
• 3+ years of experience supporting AI implementations in financial services.
• 5+ years of experience bringing complex research from an initial concept into production.
• 5+ years of experience leading the design and development of applications that interface with large datasets, including highly complex data pipelines.
• 5+ years of experience mentoring engineers and data scientists at all levels and helping them grow their technical and non-technical competencies.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Advanced expertise in machine learning, natural language processing, and/or generative AI.
• Demonstrated mindset of continuous learning and improvement that you instill in other members of the organization.
• Curiosity about new technologies and processes - you always seek to improve yourself and everyone around you and proactively seek and share knowledge with others outside of your organization.
• Deep understanding and knowledge of the financial services industry.
• Extensive computer science and data science fundamentals and in-depth experience working across different parts of the tech stack.
• Expert-level communication skills - you balance written and verbal communication to clearly share your perspective with others across organizations

In addition to the salary range, this role is also eligible for bonus or incentive opportunities.

Why Work With Us?

• Be at the forefront of shaping responsible AI practices in financial services.

• Collaborate with legal, risk, and compliance teams to ensure alignment and enable proactive AI risk management.

• Work in a dynamic environment that values innovation, ethical responsibility, and continuous learning.

• Opportunity to lead Schwab’s efforts in building a robust and responsible AI ecosystem.