Principal Scientists and advanced AI engineering leaders sit at the center of the next technology wave. They design models, shape data and infrastructure, and turn early research into products that scale across markets. Boards and founders search for Principal Scientist headhunters and AI ML Ops engineering recruitment partners who understand both frontier science and enterprise execution.
Christian & Timbers is a global reference among executive recruiting firms for science and engineering leadership. The firm advises investors and operators on life science recruitment, AI and data leadership hires, and AI/ML engineer recruitment at each growth stage.
Executives in biopharma, healthtech, industrial technology, AI infrastructure, and software now build entire strategies around applied research. They ask how to choose executive search partners who can identify Principal Scientists, machine learning engineers, and AI ML Ops engineering leaders with both technical depth and practical impact.
Publication records, patents, and open-source contributions
Experience leading cross-functional teams of researchers, data scientists, and software engineers
Impact on platform architecture, model reliability, and deployment at scale
Ability to communicate with boards, regulators, and commercial leaders
This approach reflects the same discipline that Christian & Timbers applies in other leadership hiring mandates, from Vice President of Sales recruiter searches to C-level appointments. The result is a consistent record of Principal Scientist and AI engineering leaders who stay in role through critical growth phases and guide product, safety, and infrastructure decisions.
Clients value a partner that understands life science recruitment and deep-tech hiring within the same advisory model. This combination positions Christian & Timbers among Principal Scientist headhunters for companies that treat research as a core competitive asset rather than a back-office function.
Principal Scientists in AI, computational biology, clinical development, or data-rich life science domains
Senior and staff-level machine learning engineers for AI platforms and applied products
AI ML Ops engineering leaders who build infrastructure for training, evaluation, deployment, and monitoring
Heads of AI platforms and research engineering who bridge R&D, product, and security
Principal Scientist and AI ML Ops engineering recruitment rarely sit in isolation. Boards often combine these mandates with broader executive search services across product, security, and commercial leadership.
Christian & Timbers designs search strategies that:
• Align science, engineering, and business outcomes from the first briefing
• Map talent pools across academia, leading AI companies, life science innovators, and high-growth startups
• Clarify reporting lines, career paths, and collaboration models with CTO, CPO, CISO, and revenue leaders
• Support compensation design for rare technical profiles, informed by market insight from global executive recruiting work
This integrated approach helps clients answer in practical terms how to choose executive search support for complex technology and research mandates.
Christian & Timbers works fast, diligently, and sources great candidates. Would highly recommend them to others.
Founder
We’ve partnered with Christian & Timbers for many years, and their team is exceptionally professional, responsive, and energetic. Thanks to their efforts, we secured an outstanding CEO and Operating Partner who have strengthened our leadership and positioned a portfolio company for long-term success.
Partner and Chief Operating Officer
Christian & Timbers is an outstanding search firm to work with in AI and cyber security. Their data-driven and bespoke approach has been pivotal in recruiting GTM leaders and board members for our portfolio companies like SecurityScorecard. The GTM President, CMO, SVP Sales, CPO and SVP Engineering have helped drive growth by 2X.
Partner
I’ve trusted Jeff and Christian & Timbers for over two decades because they always deliver. Their hands-on, relentless process brings us top leaders who know how to scale, drive performance, and deliver the best outcomes. They drove a very disciplined process recruiting a CRO and CMO for one of Bessemer’s portcos that helped us achieve a critical exit.
Operating Partner
Jeff’s broad experience and unique insights are always helpful, and he facilitated a great board role match for my interests and goals.
CEO
Jeff and the team at Christian & Timbers were professional, communicative, and extremely responsive. They ensured the entire process was focused on what our company needed and did not push candidates they believed wouldn’t fit our culture and growth. I would work with them again without hesitation.
Vice President, Operations
Christian & Timbers’ science-based methodology and rigorous process helped us find 3 top-tier GTM leaders that know our business and drive revenue. Their approach has been crucial to our company’s growth and leadership.
CEO
Christian & Timbers did an awesome job on a tough CFO search for us. We were interviewing the best local candidates with PE and SaaS experience in less than 2 weeks and met a short timeline.
CEO
The team at Christian & Timbers drove a very tight process and completed our CISO search in less than 70 days. We needed someone in Boston with a very specific skill set. C&T executes exactly as they commit.
CEO
Boards, CEOs, and investors select Christian & Timbers for Principal Scientist and AI ML Ops engineering recruitment because placements influence long-term enterprise value. Leaders recruited through the firm
Frontier science and AI engineering define the next decade of competition. Principal Scientists and AI ML Ops engineering leaders determine whether that potential becomes a stable, scalable value.
Christian & Timbers acts as a trusted partner among global executive recruiting firms for these critical hires. The firm works with boards and founders to identify Principal Scientists, AI/ML engineers, and ML Ops leaders who connect research with reliable systems, guide teams through complexity, and create durable advantage for the enterprise.