At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead the development of Africa-first language models and ensure high-quality delivery.
- Company: Join a pioneering tech initiative focused on African languages and AI.
- Benefits: Competitive pay, generous holidays, and professional development opportunities.
- Other info: Collaborative environment with a focus on innovation and community engagement.
- Why this job: Make a real impact in AI by shaping language models for Africa's diverse cultures.
- Qualifications: Experience in NLP and language model development, especially for African languages.
The predicted salary is between 60000 - 80000 € per year.
Department: Technology
Team: AI Foundry
Location: London (Hybrid or Remote) / Nairobi
Position type: Contractor (umbrella – inside IR35) until 24th December 2026; Full Time
What The Hiring Manager Says
"The Africa AI Language Initiative is one of our most strategically important efforts — aiming to build Africa-first, open, locally representative AI models across the continent’s most widely spoken languages. As our Subject Matter Expert, you will play a pivotal role in shaping model design, guiding technical execution, and ensuring high-quality delivery across multiple partners." — Director of AI Initiatives
About The Team
The Africa AI Language Initiative brings together mobile operators, African researchers, startups, academia, and GSMA to build and deploy open, representative language models for Africa. The team is multidisciplinary — spanning AI research, data governance, telco engagement, technical programme delivery, and community development.
About The Role
You will guide the development of 3–5 Africa-first open language models end-to-end, acting as the technical anchor and coordinator across multiple model‑building tracks. You will ensure alignment between researchers, operators, and partners, while driving high-quality technical outcomes, documentation, and model readiness.
About You
You will bring demonstrable experience in developing and evaluating language models, with a strong grounding in NLP techniques relevant to African languages. You’ll be able to work across diverse linguistic structures—such as tonal variation, agglutination, rich morphology, and non-standardised orthographies—to ensure that models reflect real-world language use across the continent. Your ability to analyse datasets, identify representational gaps, and guide the creation of high-quality corpora will directly shape the performance and inclusiveness of our Africa first models. You’ll be comfortable working end-to-end across the research workflow: from tokenisation strategies suitable for low resource languages, to training and finetuning multilingual models, to designing evaluation methods that capture linguistic nuance. You will apply your technical depth to help partners understand model behaviour, tradeoffs, and opportunities for improvement. You’ll communicate these insights clearly, helping a broad ecosystem—including operators, researchers, community groups, and developers—collaborate effectively around open model development. You’ll be curious and adaptable, able to test new methods quickly while maintaining scientific rigour. Through structured documentation, reproducible experimentation, and responsible data practices, you’ll help ensure these open models meet the highest standards for transparency and reliability.
Core Skills
- Data Analysis: apply analytical rigour to evaluate datasets and model outputs, identifying linguistic patterns, bias risks, and areas for improving representation across African languages.
- AI Research: explore and adapt advanced NLP techniques—including tokenisation, alignment, and evaluation methods—to address the challenges of low-resource and morphologically rich languages.
- Communication: translate complex technical concepts into clear, accessible explanations for partners across Africa, enabling shared understanding of modelling decisions and outcomes.
- Delivery: drive research workstreams with structure and consistency, ensuring training runs, evaluations, documentation, and model releases are delivered to a high technical standard.
- Stakeholder Management: collaborate confidently with researchers, operators, universities, and data communities, ensuring alignment on linguistic priorities, data quality, and model behaviour.
Contract type
Short term Contractor
What We Offer
In addition to architect-designed offices and competitive compensation, our benefits include fantastic learning & development opportunities, generous holiday allowances, four additional days off for professional development and many others.
AI Research Lead - African First Language Models employer: GSMA
As an AI Research Lead at our company, you will be part of a pioneering initiative that prioritises the development of Africa-first language models, working in a dynamic and collaborative environment. We offer a hybrid or remote work model from London or Nairobi, competitive compensation, and exceptional learning and development opportunities, including generous holiday allowances and additional days for professional growth. Join us to make a meaningful impact on AI representation across the continent while enjoying a supportive culture that values innovation and inclusivity.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land AI Research Lead - African First Language Models
✨Tip Number 1
Network like a pro! Reach out to people in the AI and NLP fields, especially those involved in African languages. Attend meetups or webinars, and don’t be shy about sliding into DMs on LinkedIn. You never know who might have the inside scoop on job openings!
✨Tip Number 2
Show off your skills! Create a portfolio showcasing your work with language models, especially if you’ve tackled low-resource languages. Share it on platforms like GitHub or your personal website. This gives potential employers a taste of what you can bring to the table.
✨Tip Number 3
Prepare for interviews by brushing up on your communication skills. Be ready to explain complex NLP concepts in simple terms. Practice with friends or mentors to ensure you can convey your ideas clearly, which is crucial for collaborating with diverse teams.
✨Tip Number 4
Don’t forget to apply through our website! We’re always on the lookout for passionate individuals who want to make a difference in AI for Africa. Keep an eye on our careers page for the latest opportunities and get your application in early!
We think you need these skills to ace AI Research Lead - African First Language Models
Some tips for your application 🫡
Tailor Your Application:Make sure to customise your CV and cover letter for the AI Research Lead role. Highlight your experience with African languages and NLP techniques, as this will show us you understand what we're looking for.
Showcase Your Technical Skills:Don’t hold back on detailing your technical expertise! We want to see your experience with language models and data analysis. Use specific examples to demonstrate how you've tackled challenges in the past.
Communicate Clearly:Remember, we value clear communication. When writing your application, explain complex concepts simply. This will help us see how well you can translate technical jargon into accessible language for our diverse partners.
Apply Through Our Website:We encourage you to apply directly through our website. It’s the best way for us to receive your application and ensures you’re considered for the role. Plus, it shows us you're keen to join our team!
How to prepare for a job interview at GSMA
✨Know Your NLP Inside Out
Make sure you brush up on your knowledge of NLP techniques, especially those relevant to African languages. Be ready to discuss specific examples of how you've developed and evaluated language models, and how you can apply that experience to the role.
✨Showcase Your Data Analysis Skills
Prepare to talk about your experience with data analysis, particularly in identifying linguistic patterns and bias risks. Bring examples of datasets you've worked with and how you've improved representation in your previous projects.
✨Communicate Clearly and Effectively
Practice explaining complex technical concepts in simple terms. The ability to communicate effectively with diverse stakeholders is crucial, so think of ways to demonstrate this skill during your interview.
✨Demonstrate Your Collaborative Spirit
Be ready to share experiences where you've successfully collaborated with researchers, operators, or community groups. Highlight how you ensured alignment on priorities and quality, as teamwork will be key in this role.
