Interview Studio

Requirements found

Training Supervising

What this posting asks for

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

Main responsibilities

• 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…
• Research and productize behavioral incentive models that increase ridership and shift demand to improve aggregation: surge smoothing mechanisms, loyalty stru…
• Partner with lighthouse transit agencies to co-develop and validate novel AI approaches, turning field pilots into scalable platform features.
• Establish rigorous experimentation infrastructure (A/B testing, contextual bandits, offline policy evaluation) to measure the real-world impact of model chan…
• What we are looking for:
• MS or PhD in a quantitative field: machine learning, operations research, statistics, applied mathematics, or a related discipline.

Competencies an interviewer will look for

• Technical skill Core
  In the posting: “Genuine user empathy: you think as carefully about what a rider or agency dispatcher experiences as you do about model architecture.” · “Experience partnering with engineering teams to move models from research into production at scale.” · “Comfort operating across research, product, and commercial contexts: you can present a model architecture to an ML engineer and a product strategy to a trans…”
  Show it by: Names the tools, languages or systems used and how; Explains a technical choice and its trade-off.
• Customer focus Core
  In the posting: “This is a three-part role: innovating with lighthouse customers to pilot and pressure-test cutting-edge approaches in real-world transit environments, conduc…” · “Design and deploy reinforcement learning systems that optimize routing, pooling efficiency, and real-time dispatching, balancing rider satisfaction against v…” · “You work closely with the mobile and SaaS product teams on experimentation, and you know how to find the balance between a delightful user experience and ser…”
  Show it by: Puts the customer's need in their own words; Shows a result for the customer, not only for the company.
• Teamwork and collaboration Core
  In the posting: “Partner with lighthouse transit agencies to co-develop and validate novel AI approaches, turning field pilots into scalable platform features.” · “You work closely with the mobile and SaaS product teams on experimentation, and you know how to find the balance between a delightful user experience and ser…”
  Show it by: Says what they did inside a team, not only what 'we' did; Shows how a disagreement was handled.
• Data and analysis Core
  In the posting: “MS or PhD in a quantitative field: machine learning, operations research, statistics, applied mathematics, or a related discipline.” · “You work closely with the mobile and SaaS product teams on experimentation, and you know how to find the balance between a delightful user experience and ser…”
  Show it by: Uses a number to describe the situation or the result; Explains what the data showed and what was done with it.
• Adaptability and learning Core
  In the posting: “Invent personalization systems that adapt the rider mobile experience in real time, surfacing relevant trip options, proactive alerts, and dynamic pricing si…” · “Track record of working with external customers or partners to iterate on novel solutions in ambiguous, real-world conditions.”
  Show it by: Describes learning something new quickly and using it; Shows a change of plan and how they adjusted.
• Leadership and mentoring Supporting
  In the posting: “Deep hands-on proficiency in ML: reinforcement learning, supervised and unsupervised methods, probabilistic modeling, and optimization.”
  Show it by: Describes setting direction or a standard others followed; Names someone they coached and what changed for them.
• Attention to detail and quality Supporting
  In the posting: “Establish rigorous experimentation infrastructure (A/B testing, contextual bandits, offline policy evaluation) to measure the real-world impact of model chan…”
  Show it by: Gives an example of an error caught before it caused harm; Names the check or standard they used.
• Stakeholder management Supporting
  In the posting: “Track record of working with external customers or partners to iterate on novel solutions in ambiguous, real-world conditions.”
  Show it by: Shows how they aligned people with different goals; Explains how they handled a 'no' from someone senior.

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