AI Research Manager - Machine Learning

Nu is the leading digital bank in Latin America, serving 135 million customers across Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia. As AI Research Manager, you will own the operating health and execution of Nubank's ML research agenda. This is a dedicated people-management role for a small, high-talent-density team of world-class researchers, partnering closely with senior technical leads who drive the scientific direction. The team works on a portfolio of research bets on a one-to-four-quarter horizon, including nuFormer architectures, multitask and multi-target modeling, training and inference efficiency, causal modeling and policy optimization, world models, recommendation systems, embeddings and representation learning, and real-time and continual learning.

Responsibilities

Lead, mentor, and advocate for a team of world-class ML researchers; Own the operating health of the team, including performance, career growth, hiring, and compensation cycles; Attract and retain top-tier research talent; Own the operating cadence of a portfolio of two-to-three concurrent, quarter-scale research bets; Allocate scarce, high-value resources, most notably GPU capacity, across competing research priorities; Protect deep-focus research time; Raise the bar on research rigor and communication; Cultivate the team's standing in the broader research community; Partner closely with senior technical leads; Ensure clean handoffs from research into production; Translate complex, frontier technical progress into clear narratives for executive leadership; Bridge foundational research and long-term business strategy

Requirements

Experienced research or engineering manager working at the intersection of cutting-edge AI research and Applied ML; 3+ years of direct people-management experience leading applied AI research or core machine learning teams at big tech companies, frontier labs, or comparable high-scale environments; M.S. or Ph.D. in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Applied Mathematics, or a related quantitative field, with a strong working understanding of core AI methodologies; Proven ability to build, scale, and retain high-performing research or advanced applied-science teams

Nice to have

Deep conceptual familiarity with at least one core research area: Foundation models & LLMs, Behavioral & sequential models, Decisioning & optimization, Training & inference efficiency; Exceptional storytelling skills, with a track record of translating complex technical milestones into business impact for senior and C-level audiences; Experience operating in global, distributed teams and navigating the path from foundational research to scalable, production-grade systems

Benefits

Total compensation includes base salary, RSUs and benefits; Opportunity of earning equity at Nu; Medical Insurance; Dental and Vision Insurance; Life Insurance and AD&D; Extended maternity and paternity leaves; Nucleo - Our learning platform of courses; NuLanguage - Our language learning program; NuCare - Our mental health and wellness assistance program; 401K; Saving Plans - Health Saving Account and Flexible Spending Account; Work-from-home Allowance; Relocation Assistance Package, if applicable