Chief AI Evaluation & Research

Vals AI, Inc.; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 220,000 - 340,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Relocation support

Health insurance

Meals provided (Lunch/Dinner)

401K plan

Unlimited PTO

Equity

Job summary

Vals AI, Inc. is seeking a Head of Research to lead the measurement layer for the AI economy, shaping benchmarks, methodologies, and standards for model evaluation. The role drives direction across ongoing projects and collaborates with enterprise customers and lab partners to solve real evaluation problems.

You will recruit and grow a research team, publish influential work, and influence what gets deployed in the field. In-person work in San Francisco is required.

Qualifications

• PhD in ML/NLP (in progress or completed), or equivalent industry research track record.
• Deep familiarity with the LLM evaluation landscape: existing benchmarks, their failure modes, judge-model approaches, and human-in-the-loop methodologies.
• A bias toward research that affects what people actually deploy, rather than benchmarks that are easy to game.
• Strong written and verbal communication. You will publish, present, and talk to customers and labs.
• Ability to work in-person, in San Francisco.

Responsibilities

• Advance the science of evaluation. Develop new paradigms for long-horizon, real-world tasks.
• Oversee Vals’ broader research portfolio and set direction across ongoing projects.
• Publish work that moves the field forward and is widely cited.
• Recruit and grow a research team alongside the founders.
• Work directly with enterprise customers and lab partners on evaluation problems they have.

Skills

Strong communication

Public speaking

Publish research

Industry collaboration

In-person SF work

Education

PhD in ML/NLP (in progress or completed)

Job description

Vals AI, Inc. is seeking a Head of Research to lead the measurement layer for the AI economy, shaping benchmarks, methodologies, and standards for model evaluation. The role drives direction across ongoing projects and collaborates with enterprise customers and lab partners to solve real evaluation problems.

You will recruit and grow a research team, publish influential work, and influence what gets deployed in the field. In-person work in San Francisco is required.