AI Associate/Data Scientist

Who we are: 

Guidesly is revolutionizing the outdoor recreation industry by connecting guides and instructors to their guests through innovative SaaS platforms and mobile applications. As a dynamic start-up rooted in a culture of hard work, innovation, & the great outdoors, we leverage our technologies to empower outdoor guides and help them grow their businesses. 

What you’ll do: 

We’re looking for an AI Associate/Data Scientist with expertise in Large Language Models (LLM), Natural Language Processing (NLP), and advanced fine-tuning techniques to join our team. In this role, you’ll be responsible for fine-tuning existing AI models to enhance performance, accuracy, and the overall user experience on the Guidesly platform. You’ll collaborate closely with our engineering and product teams to ensure that AI-driven features are aligned with user needs and business goals. Experience with SLM (Supervised Learning Models) and RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) is a plus.

Key Responsibilities:

• Fine-Tune AI Models: Work with pre-trained models (especially LLMs) and fine-tune them for specific tasks, such as improving recommendations for fishing guides, personalized user experiences, and optimizing search functionalities.
• Data Preprocessing: Clean and preprocess data to ensure optimal input for machine learning models, improving their overall performance.
• Model Evaluation: Continuously evaluate model performance, using metrics like accuracy, precision, and recall to identify areas for improvement.
• Collaboration: Partner with engineers, product managers, and data scientists to translate business needs into AI solutions and ensure successful integration into the Guidesly platform.
• Continuous Improvement: Stay up-to-date with the latest trends in AI and machine learning, particularly in LLMs and NLP, and apply new techniques to continuously improve the system’s effectiveness.
• Troubleshooting and Optimization: Identify and address any issues with the AI models in production, performing debugging and model tuning to ensure smooth functionality.

Required Qualifications:

• Strong foundation in ML and Data Science concepts, including supervised, unsupervised learning and optimization techniques. 
• Experience in collecting, cleaning, and preprocessing text datasets, including leveraging structured metadata for training personalized or domain-specific models. 
• Hands-on experience fine-tuning LLM or Small Language Models (SLMs) or lightweight agents for NLP tasks. 
• Experience with NLP workflows such as text preprocessing, tokenization, and embeddings, along with familiarity with transformer-based architectures. 
• Familiarity with techniques like transfer learning, LoRA (Low-Rank Adaptation), and quantization for efficient model optimization. 
• Ability to work in a collaborative, cross-functional team environment.
• Strong problem-solving skills and attention to detail.

Why Join Us: 

• Work in the heart of Buffalo’s Seneca One building alongside some wonderful people. 

• Join a collaborative team, focused on empowering guides and providing endless space & opportunity for growth.  

• Enjoy opportunities to travel and immerse yourself in the outdoor recreation community.  

• Play a key role in shaping the future of the guide and instructor industry! 

Salary: $75k-$100k based on experience 

Salary : $75,000 - $100,000