# Conversational Modelling Research Engineer

**Company:** [Tavus](https://hotfix.jobs/companies/tavus)
**Location:** Remote
**Role:** AI Research
**Skills:** PyTorch, Large Multimodal Models, Vision Language Models, Generative Models, Deep Learning, Fine-Tuning, Audio/Video Understanding, Vqa, Speech To Speech, Neural Avatars
**Posted:** 2026-04-22

> AI Researcher develops and fine-tunes large multimodal models for real-time conversational avatars, modeling verbal/non-verbal behaviors with low latency. Requires PhD or equivalent, hands-on experience with VLMs, PyTorch, and deep learning.

## Job Description

## Responsibilities
- Conduct research on Large Multimodal Models in the context of Conversational Avatars (e.g. Neural Avatars, Talking-Heads).
- Develop methods to model both verbal and non-verbal aspects of conversation, adapting and controlling avatar behavior in real time, with low-latency.
- Experiment with fine-tuning, adaptation, and conditioning techniques to make AudioVisual Multimodal Models more expressive, controllable, and task-specific.
- Partner with the Applied ML team to take research from prototype to production.
- Stay up to date with cutting-edge advancements.

## Requirements
- PhD (or near completion) in a relevant field, or equivalent research experience.
- Hands-on experience with Large Multimodal Models and a strong foundation in generative (language) models (e.g. VQA, Audio/Video understanding, captioning, behavioral analysis, Translation, Speech to Speech systems).
- Experience in fine-tuning/adapting VLMs for control, conditioning, or downstream tasks.
- Solid background in deep learning and foundation models.
- Strong PyTorch skills and comfort building deep learning pipelines.

## Nice-to-Haves
- Knowledge of large-scale model training and optimization.
- Experience in duplex-conversational models.
- Broader understanding of generative AI across modalities.
- Exposure to software development best practices.
- Flexible, experimental mindset (working across research and engineering).
- (Bonus) Publications at EMNLP, COLING, NeurIPS, ICLR, CVPR, ICCV.

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