ML jobs in industry

Hello everyone,

I am an university student who is considering a career in machine learning. I have discovered that I enjoy the process of data modelling, data engineering, building statistical models and making decisions from them much more than software engineering. However, I saw that a lot of MLE jobs are more about putting ML models into production (so more SWE), which I don't see myself enjoying.

Are there are jobs focusing mainly on ML research and model-building/optimization? I plan to do a bachelors in Industrial Engineering (which at my school is basically applied math/stats) to gain a solid foundation in optimization, big data analysis, and statistical learning then pursue a CS masters. Would these jobs be only open to PhD grads?

Any info is appreciated, thank you!