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Research Scientist - Interactive Avatars

SynthesiaEuropeResearch and Development
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Salary
Not listed
Job type
Full-time
Work mode
Remote
Experience
Senior
Posted
6 Oct 2026
Status
Open · checked 7d ago

About this role

Research Scientist - Interactive Avatars is a full-time research position based in Europe within the Interactive Avatars team at Synthesia. This role suits machine learning and diffusion model experts seeking to build real-time conversational AI video agents.

Role Overview

The Research Scientist position sits within the R&D department at Synthesia, joining a team of over 40 researchers and engineers. The role focuses on generative AI and avatar-centric, interactive video diffusion models to create AI video agents that interact naturally like humans.

Key Responsibilities

Contribute to the research direction for dyadic interaction modeling, and own well-scoped research problems end to end.
Advance the state of the art in the perceptual layer of interactive agents, including understanding user audio and video and generating contextually appropriate reactions.
Post-train multimodal models to generate rich, natural dyadic interactions from user audio and video inputs.
Adapt diffusion models to new conditioning signals, such as conversational state, turn-taking, and listener cues.
Build robust evaluation frameworks and test suites for continuous tracking of interaction quality.
Partner with the data team to define data needs and shape high-quality datasets.
Run rigorous experiments, and share findings that inform the team's technical decisions.

Requirements

A strong machine learning background and hands-on experience with diffusion models, ideally for video or avatar generation.
Publications at top-tier venues such as CVPR, ICCV, ECCV, NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, or SIGGRAPH in relevant areas like world models, dyadic interaction, or video diffusion, or equivalent demonstrated impact.
Experience taking research ideas through to working implementations, and motivation to see them reach production.
Proficiency in PyTorch and modern machine learning tooling for large-scale training.
Clear communication of hypotheses, experiments, and results.

Nice to Have

Experience with real-time or streaming generation, including autoregressive video diffusion.
Distillation or other techniques for low-latency inference.
Audio-driven facial, gesture, or full-body motion modeling.
Conversational modeling, such as turn-taking, backchanneling, or listener-response generation.
Experience mentoring students or junior researchers.

Skills and Tools

PyTorch
Diffusion Models
Video Diffusion
Multimodal Models

About the Company

Synthesia is an AI video platform for business, used by over 90% of the Fortune 100. Founded in 2017 and headquartered in London with offices and teams across Europe and the US, the organization develops products to enhance visual communication and enterprise skill development. Following a Series E funding round raising $200 million, the company valuation stands at $4 billion with total funding exceeding $530 million from investors including Accel, NVentures, Kleiner Perkins, GV, and Evantic Capital.

How to Apply

Interested candidates should apply on the official company careers page.

Skills and tech stack

PyTorchReactMachine LearningDiffusionGenerative AI

Questions candidates ask

Where is the Research Scientist role located?

The position is located in Europe, where Synthesia has offices and teams.

What team will I be joining?

You will join the Interactive Avatars team within the R&D department, which consists of over 40 researchers and engineers.

What core technical skills are required?

Requirements include a strong machine learning background, hands-on experience with diffusion models for video or avatar generation, and proficiency in PyTorch and modern machine learning tooling.

Are publication requirements specified?

Yes, candidates should have publications at top-tier venues like CVPR, ICCV, ECCV, NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, or SIGGRAPH in related areas, or equivalent demonstrated impact.

What company is hiring for this role?

Synthesia, an AI video platform company headquartered in London with operations across Europe and the US, is hiring for this position.

Ready to apply?

The application is on the official Synthesia careers page.

Apply on company site