About Solaria Labs & Applied Science
Solaria Labs is Liberty Mutual’s central innovation function, focused on supporting the business via rapid experimentation with cutting-edge technology. As a Fortune 100 company, Liberty invests meaningfully in incubation programs and research shaping mobility, climate resilience, energy transition, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence.
Within Solaria, the Applied Science team is our AI R&D lab. Our goal is to translate frontier research and emerging technologies into incubation prototypes and ultimately scaled enterprise impact. We partner with leading academic institutions, including MIT, and collaborate closely with internal business leaders to incubate and deploy high-impact AI programs.
We are seeking a Director I, Product Research to operate at the intersection of academic partnership leadership and enterprise program execution. This is a hybrid role requiring strong relationship management paired with the proven ability to translate and steer concepts across domains into tangible business value.
The Role
This position blends two high impact innovation levers:
1. Academic Partnerships: Managing and evolving Liberty’s relationships with world-class research institutions, translating academic research into business value
2. Incubation Program Leadership: Driving high-impact AI initiatives from concept through execution and ultimately inform scale decisions
The ideal candidate will execute our academic engagement strategy, while exercising strong autonomy in how initiatives are structured and delivered. Ability to influence, establish credibility with leaders, problem-solve with structured thinking, and generate momentum during the early "zero to one" phase of projects is key.
What You’ll Do
Academic Partnerships
AI Incubation Program Leadership
What We’re Looking For
We are seeking a senior program leader who thrives in dynamic environments and can balance long-term relationship building with disciplined execution
Critical Success Traits
The strongest candidates will demonstrate:
• Strong sense of ownership – Ability to proactively take responsibility for outcomes across complex projects
• Comfort with ambiguity – Operating effectively before full alignment exists, and operating with "mile-wide, inch deep" context
• Bias toward action – Generating momentum and driving initiatives forward
• Strong leadership & stakeholder management – Building and maintaining trust across diverse partners
• Structured thinking – Bringing clarity and prioritization to complex problems
Why This Role
This is a unique opportunity to operate at the intersection of academic research and enterprise-scale execution at a global Fortune 100 company. This candidate will ultimately influence how Liberty activates meaningful research opportunities, shape enterprise AI strategy, and lead initiatives with high leadership visibility and impact.
You will:
• Build and scale initiatives aligned to Liberty's long term strategy across domains
• Partner across the MIT ecosystem on frontier research challenges
• Shape how Liberty Mutual deploys academic research as a strategic innovation lever
• Gain exposure across executive stakeholders and emerging technology domains
• Position yourself for broader enterprise leadership opportunities as tech evolves and programs scale
If you’re energized by building trusted partnerships and turning complex, ambiguous opportunities into structured, high-impact outcomes, we encourage you to apply.
Ideal Backgrounds May Include:
Pay Philosophy: The typical starting salary range for this role is determined by a number of factors including skills, experience, education, certifications and location. The full salary range for this role reflects the competitive labor market value for all employees in these positions across the national market and provides an opportunity to progress as employees grow and develop within the role. Some roles at Liberty Mutual have a corresponding compensation plan which may include commission and/or bonus earnings at rates that vary based on multiple factors set forth in the compensation plan for the role.
At Liberty Mutual, our goal is to create a workplace where everyone feels valued, supported, and can thrive. We build an environment that welcomes a wide range of perspectives and experiences, with inclusion embedded in every aspect of our culture and reflected in everyday interactions. This comes to life through comprehensive benefits, workplace flexibility, professional development opportunities, and a host of opportunities provided through our Employee Resource Groups. Each employee plays a role in creating our inclusive culture, which supports every individual to do their best work. Together, we cultivate a community where everyone can make a meaningful impact for our business, our customers, and the communities we serve.
We value your hard work, integrity and commitment to make things better, and we put people first by offering you benefits that support your life and well-being. To learn more about our benefit offerings please visit: https://www.libertymutualgroup.com/about-lm/careers/benefits
Liberty Mutual is an equal opportunity employer. We will not tolerate discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, age, disability, veteran's status, pregnancy, genetic information or on any basis prohibited by federal, state or local law.
Fair Chance Notices
Software Powered by iCIMS
www.icims.com