Job brief: Head of AI Research Product

What JoRoute checked · Checked by JoRoute

• Listed on Via's own job board. JoRoute does not take listings from job ads or recruiters.
• First seen by JoRoute 2026-11-04 (3 days ago); last confirmed on the board 2026-11-07.
• The apply link opens job-boards.greenhouse.io, the address Via's board gives for this job.
• No other listing with this title and place on this board in the last 90 days.
• No layoff notices (WARN) under this name in the state files JoRoute reads.

What the listing says · Employer's own words, not checked

• Pay: $250,000 to $310,000 a year
• Job type: Not stated
• Where: New York, New York · New York City
• Posted: 2026-10-13

What the job asks · Employer's own words, not checked

Level: Manager. The title says "Head of".

Conditions

• Research and productize behavioral incentive models that increase ridership and shift demand to improve aggregation: surge smoothing mechanisms, loyalty structures, and gamified e…

Main duties

• Build and lead Via's AI research product function, defining the roadmap for how machine learning advances rider experience and transit network performance.
• Design and deploy reinforcement learning systems that optimize routing, pooling efficiency, and real-time dispatching, balancing rider satisfaction against v…
• Pioneer AlphaGo-style machine learning for transit: combine deep reinforcement learning, and tree search over high-fidelity simulations of real transit netwo…
• Develop weighted ensemble models and multi-objective optimization frameworks that surface the right tradeoffs between competing system goals: wait times, cos…
• Invent personalization systems that adapt the rider mobile experience in real time, surfacing relevant trip options, proactive alerts, and dynamic pricing si…

Lines copied from the posting, not rewritten. "Preferred" or "nice to have" items are not listed as must-haves.

How it compares · Compared by JoRoute from listings

• Across Via's 136 open listings, 53% of those with a posting date were first posted more than 60 days ago. How Via hires

What nobody outside the employer knows · Not known

• Whether the role is already filled or on hold: employers often leave listings up.
• How many people applied, and who reads the applications.
• Where in the published range an offer would land.

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