Forward Deployed Researcher - Data as a Service

snorkelai; United States; Remote; USD 180,000 - 300,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health and dental coverage

Equity grants

Job summary

snorkelai is seeking a high-impact researcher to work with frontier AI labs on data problems, evaluation frameworks, and RL environments. You will translate customer objectives into rigorous, actionable plans and own the domain end-to-end.

You will design datasets, evaluate model weaknesses, and collaborate with research teams to guide product direction. Strong communication and Python skills are essential in a fast-paced, customer-facing role.

Qualifications

• Advanced degree preferred; MS/PhD in ML or related field.
• 4+ years of applied ML research, data science, or research-intensive roles.
• Strong Python, ML frameworks, and LLM API familiarity.
• Experience communicating with customers and presenting findings.
• Ability to work in a fast-moving environment with ambiguity.

Responsibilities

• Own a technical domain end-to-end, shaping roadmap and deliverables.
• Partner with frontier AI research labs to design datasets, RL environments, and tasks.
• Lead technical conversations with customer researchers on capabilities and data needs.
• Probe model behavior with systematic evaluation and data interventions.
• Benchmark frontier models against internal datasets with pass-rate analysis.

Skills

Frontier AI concepts

Applied ML research

Python programming

LLM APIs

Model evaluation

Customer engagement

Technical strategy

RLHF / DPO / RLAIF

Education

Advanced degree (MS/PhD) in ML or related field

Tools

Python

ML frameworks

LLM APIs

Docker / containerized environments

Job description

Role overview

This is a high-impact, customer-facing research position partnering with frontier AI labs on their hardest data problems. The role blends applied research, technical strategy, and direct customer engagement, helping research teams design datasets, evaluation frameworks, and RL environments that drive model improvements. It suits a technically credible researcher who can translate customer objectives into rigorous, actionable plans and own a domain end-to-end.

Responsibilities

• Own a technical domain end-to-end, setting the bar for what gets built and shaping the roadmap for what comes next
• Partner with frontier AI research labs to design datasets, RL environments, and tasks that measurably improve model performance
• Lead technical conversations with customer researchers to clarify capabilities, failure modes, data requirements, and success criteria
• Probe model behavior through systematic evaluation, surfacing weaknesses and identifying high-leverage data interventions
• Benchmark frontier models against internal datasets, producing pass-rate analysis, failure-mode breakdowns, and recommendations
• Maintain a point of view on where the domain is heading and collaborate with internal research on what should exist before customers ask

Requirements

• Strong expertise in frontier AI concepts including LLMs, training data pipelines, evaluation methodologies, and post-training techniques such as RLHF, DPO, and RLAIF
• 4+ years of experience in applied ML research, data science, or research-intensive technical roles; advanced degree preferred
• Proficiency in Python, familiarity with ML frameworks and LLM APIs, and comfort running evaluations in containerized environments
• Demonstrated customer-facing or collaborative research experience with strong presentation and communication skills
• Comfort working in a fast-moving environment with ambiguity and rapid iteration
• Willingness to make and defend a defensible assumption when a request arrives underspecified

Nice to have

• Familiarity with data curation workflows, synthetic data generation, LLM-as-a-Judge, and evaluation framework design

Benefits and work setup

• Salary range of approximately $180,000 to $300,000 USD depending on location, experience, and qualifications
• Eligibility for additional benefits including health and dental coverage and equity grants