Location: Detroit or Ann Arbor, MI (Hybrid)
Start Date: November 2025
Salary: $80,000-$120,000 FTE (starting part-time, ~60% FTE), with pathway to full-time after 3–6 months
Reports to: Chief Research & Product Officer (Tanyella Leta)
Apply here: Apply here: https://makamedia.typeform.com/careers
Maka Media is on a mission to make screen time healthy, joyful, and stress-free for families. We’re building the first AI-powered media platform that curates and creates content designed to nurture early childhood development. Backed by research from Yale Child Study Center and Harvard, our technology evaluates media against our proprietary Maka Imprint™ framework—helping parents feel confident that what their kids watch supports their growth.
We’re a small, high-performing founding team currently based in Detroit, building fast toward our 2026 product launch. We’re now establishing our Michigan Research & Development Hub—a center for innovation at the intersection of early childhood development, media, and artificial intelligence. This is a rare opportunity to help shape the scientific and technological foundation of a category-defining company from the ground up.
Maka Media is seeking a Director of Research & Development (R&D) to deepen our partnership with Yale Child Study Center, and establish our research partnerships in Michigan.
This role bridges academic collaboration, applied research, and product development—helping translate child development science into AI systems and digital experiences that families can trust.
You will work closely with Maka’s leadership team and the Yale Child Study Center, as well as collaborators at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, overseeing our existing internal research team. You will be responsible for developing new relationships with Michigan research institutions, and co-developing programs that strengthen Maka’s foundation in research and bring value to our research partners.
This is a high-impact, entrepreneurial position for a researcher who is ready to lead beyond academia and shape the future of healthy digital childhoods.