At Starley, weʼre creating Cotomo—a voice-based AI platform where users can form emotional bonds with anime and manga-inspired characters, including those voiced by real Japanese seiyuu in official collaborations.
Cotomo is already one of Japanʼs largest platforms of its kind, with over 1 million downloads. As we prepare to expand globally, weʼre looking for a Team Lead in Machine Learning to help shape the core intelligence behind our characters.
Youʼll guide a small ML team and work across voice, character, and product to ensure Cotomoʼs AI is expressive, consistent, and emotionally resonant. If you love anime, manga, or games—and want to bring that passion into your work—this is your chance.
Responsibilities
- Lead post-training and alignment efforts for Cotomoʼs LLM and voice models.
- Design systems that ensure personality, memory, and emotional depth.
- Collaborate across teams to turn research into production-ready features.
- Stay current with LLM/ASR/TTS research and apply advances meaningfully.
Requirements
- Hands-on experience with LLM post-training (SFT, LoRA, DPO, etc.).
- Strong coding skills in Python and ML frameworks like PyTorch.
- Experience leading or mentoring in ML teams.
- Product-focused mindset—ship fast, learn fast.
Nice to haves
While not specifically required, tell us if you have any of the following.
- Deep interest in anime, manga, or games.
- Open-source or published work in ML/LLM/Voice.
- Background in persona modeling or interactive agents.
- Experience in fast-moving startups or R&D teams.
Compensation
Starting from 9 million JPY annually.
With performance-based stock options.
