Research Scientist II (Video) - Pindrop

Who We Are

Pindrop is a cybersecurity company delivering continuous identity verification across voice, video, and digital interactions. Powered by the Pindrop Intelligence Network, our unified trust platform helps enterprises answer three critical questions:

• Is this identity synthetic? Detect AI-generated and manipulated voice and video.
• Is this identity risky? Identify fraud, suspicious behavior, and other risk signals.
• Is this identity known? Authenticate identities using voice, device, behavioral, and other signals.

Pindrop brings this intelligence together across purpose-built trust engines to help organizations make informed decisions in real time — protecting customers, workforce interactions, and emerging AI-driven interactions.

Pindrop protects billions of high-risk interactions for enterprises, including leading financial institutions, insurers, and healthcare organizations. Its technology is informed by more than 8 billion real-world interactions annually and protected by 300+ patents.

What You’ll Do

As a Research Scientist II on the Video team, you will independently drive core research initiatives, deliver reproducible experimental results, and help translate machine learning models into real-world product solutions. In this role, you will:

• Conduct research to develop new functionalities and improve existing technologies for real-time video processing and meeting analytics.
• Design, implement, and evaluate deep learning algorithms related to video processing, face recognition, and video deepfake detection.
• Design, develop, and maintain internal research packages to train and test ML models, ensuring absolute reproducibility and computational efficiency.
• Partner closely with research engineers and engineering teams to help deploy research models and tools into production environments.
• Participate in cross-functional team meetings, contribute to regular research and code reviews, and publish patents and peer-reviewed papers in top computer vision, audio, and speech conferences.

Who You Are

• You remain focused, persistent, and scientifically rigorous through multiple experimental iterations, navigating ambiguity in research data, quality, or shifting methodologies while continuing to make steady progress.
• You work effectively across functional boundaries with research scientists, research engineers, and product partners, communicating research assumptions, findings, and implications with clarity.
• You take individual ownership of assigned research projects and workstreams, making sound technical decisions using available data, theory, and rigorous experimental evidence.
• You follow through on your commitments, communicate research progress transparently, and maintain the highest standard of technical integrity, documentation, and model reproducibility.
• You use machine learning frameworks effectively to design, train, and evaluate models, carefully validating outputs and applying sound judgment to balance experimentation speed with robustness, compliance, and model quality.

Requirements

Must-Haves

• PhD in a quantitative field (e.g., Computer Science, Mathematics, Engineering, Artificial Intelligence) or equivalent industry research experience.
• 3+ years of professional experience in Deep Learning, specifically applied to computer vision, face recognition, video deepfake detection, or general machine learning.
• Strong programming proficiency in Python with a proven ability to design, develop, and maintain research packages to train and test ML models.
• Hands-on mastery of modern machine learning frameworks such as PyTorch, TensorFlow, or Keras.
• A proven track record of successful, timely project delivery and the ability to contribute to patents and peer-reviewed publications.

Nice-to-Haves

• Functional programming experience in C/C++ or working knowledge of deployment environments using Go, TF-Lite, and TF-Micro.
• Practical experience with real-time video processing pipelines and video data acquisition/preparation tasks.
• Foundational domain knowledge of biometrics, identity authentication, fraud patterns, or consumer security concepts.

What We Offer

• Competitive compensation package, including RSUs (Restricted Stock Units) for all employees.
• Remote-first work environment with regular team on-sites and company gatherings.
• Unlimited Paid Time Off (PTO).
• Generous health and welfare plans, including an employer-paid employee-only option.
• Best-in-class HSA employer contribution.
• Comprehensive vision and dental plans.
• Paid parental leave for birth, adoptive, and foster parents, plus one year of diaper delivery.
• Monthly phone and internet allowance.
• Fertility and GLP-1 wellness benefits.
• Annual Learning & Development stipend.