Research Scientist

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Research Scientist

Company: Hitachi America, Ltd.

Division: Hitachi America R&D

Location: Santa Clara, CA

Status: Regular, Full Time

The Company

About Hitachi America, Ltd.

Hitachi America, Ltd. is the regional headquarters for Hitachi Group companies in the Americas, overseeing the U.S., Canada, and Latin America markets. Headquartered in Santa Clara, California, Hitachi Americas has been deeply committed to its Social Innovation Business since its establishment in 1959, addressing society's most pressing challenges through innovative solutions. Leveraging its expertise and resources, Hitachi Americas and its subsidiary companies operate across diverse sectors, including transportation, energy, mobility, industrial manufacturing, healthcare, digital engineering, data analytics and others. Driven by Digital, Green, and Innovation, Hitachi Americas remains at the forefront of pioneering solutions that shape the future. For further details, please visit https://www.hitachi.us/.

Through its Social Innovation Business (SIB) that brings together IT, OT (Operational Technology) and products, Hitachi contributes to a harmonized society where the environment, wellbeing, and economic growth are in balance. Hitachi operates globally in four sectors - Digital Systems & Services, Energy, Mobility, and Connective Industries - and the Strategic SIB Business Unit for new growth businesses. With Lumada at its core, Hitachi generates value from integrating data, technology and domain knowledge to solve customer and social challenges. Revenues for FY2024 (ended March 31, 2025) totaled 9,783.3 billion yen, with 618 consolidated subsidiaries and approximately 280,000 employees worldwide. Visit us at www.hitachi.com.

Summary

At Hitachi America R&D, we believe innovation drives sustainable progress. Our research team plays a pivotal role in shaping Hitachi's future by exploring new ideas and delivering impactful solutions that help our customers make smarter, more resilient decisions. As part of our team, you will work on diverse projects spanning domains such as data center, novel material formulation, drug discovery, and pharmaceutical compound identification. We seek flexible and adaptable candidates capable of translating ambiguous business challenges into well-formulated machine learning or optimization solutions.

Job Responsibilities

The key responsibilities emphasize the application of AI, ML, and optimization in the context of materials and molecular discovery:

• Problem Formulation (Materials & Pharma): Collaborate with stakeholders to frame ambiguous challenges in material science, molecular discovery, or synthesis as well-defined optimization or graph-based ML problems.

• Data Acquisition & Analysis: Design and manage pipelines to gather, clean, and analyze structured and unstructured data from diverse sources, including experimental data and chemical databases.

• Modeling & Discovery (Core Focus): Build predictive models and advanced deep learning frameworks (e.g., GNNs, Transformers) for Motif Discovery and Property Prediction in material/molecular design.

• Generative AI Applications: Apply LLMs and GenAI to automate knowledge discovery and explore new formulations and synthesis pathways.

• Evaluation & Virtual Lab: Define and track KPIs to ensure models are robust and aligned with performance outcomes. Contribute to the development of a Virtual Lab environment.

• Research & Innovation: Contribute to Hitachi's leadership through annual publications and patents in top-tier conferences, journals, and IP filings.

• Collaboration: Work closely with researchers, engineers, and domain experts (e.g., chemists, materials scientists) to translate innovations into production-ready solutions.

Requirements

• Master's or PhD in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Applied Mathematics, Applied Chemistry, Computational Biology, or a related field.

• Proven expertise in data analysis, including predictive modeling and anomaly detection.

• Expertise in graph-based algorithms for structural or sequence data analysis.

• Hands-on experience with Generative AI / LLM applications for solving real-world R&D problems.

• Proficiency in Python and ML frameworks (e.g., NumPy, Pandas, Scikit-learn, PyTorch/TensorFlow).

• Experience building and integrating data pipelines with structured and unstructured data.

• Excellent analytical thinking, problem-solving, and communication skills.

• Demonstrated record of publications and patents, with an ability to consistently produce high-quality research output.

Nice to Have

• Experience with transformer-based models for sequence or time series analysis.

• Knowledge of probabilistic forecasting and uncertainty quantification.

• Familiarity with multi-agent systems, Reinforcement Learning, and decision-support frameworks for sequential decision making.

• Knowledge of optimization methods (e.g., MILP, CP, simulation-based/AI-Driven optimization for decision-making).

Our Values

We are proud to say we are an equal opportunity employer and welcome all applicants for employment without attention to any factor that doesn't impact your ability to do the job, including race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status. We are proud of Japanese heritage, with our values expressed through the Hitachi Spirit:

Wa - Harmony, Trust, Respect

Makoto - Sincerity, Fairness, Honesty, Integrity

Kaitakusha-Seishin - Pioneering Spirit, Challenge

For California only (as required by California's Pay Transparency for Pay Equity Act (SB 1162): A good faith estimate ofthe expected salary for this position in our California office upon hire is $157,500 - $172,500. Pay is determined based on a variety of factors including, but not limited to, depth of experience in the practice area. Employees are eligible to participate in Hitachi America's variable pay program, subject to the program's conditions and restrictions.

Qualified Applicants with arrest or Conviction records will be considered for Employment in accordance with the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers and the California Fair Chance Act.

Equal Opportunity Employer (EOE)-Females/Minorities/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities

If you need a reasonable accommodation to apply for a job at Hitachi, please send the nature of request and contact information to accommodation@hal.hitachi.com. Queries other than accommodation requests will not be responded to.