Manager, Research Scientist

United States Digital Space LLC; New York, San Francisco (NY, CA); On-site; USD 290,000 - 363,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health, dental and vision coverage

Retirement benefits

Learning and development stipend

Generous PTO

Commuter stipend

Job summary

Scale AI is seeking a Research Scientist Manager in New York to lead a world‑class team of researchers and engineers focused on GenAI, evaluation, and RL environments. You will define the research roadmap, drive from prototyping to deployment, and collaborate with product, engineering, and academic partners to translate advances into impact.

Ideal candidates have 5+ years in ML/AI research (PhD preferred), a record of publications, and proven experience leading teams, mentoring talent, and

Qualifications

• 5+ years of hands-on research experience (PhD or equivalent preferred) in machine learning, deep learning, generative models, agent/RL systems or related domains.
• Strong track record of research excellence, including publications in top-tier ML/AI venues (NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, ACL, etc.).
• Experience and track record of landing major research impacts in a fast-paced environment.
• Experience leading or managing research teams; ability to mentor, coach and develop talent.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills; able to articulate research ideas to technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Lead, mentor and grow a team of research scientists and engineers working on GenAI research initiatives.
• Define and drive a multi-year research roadmap with milestones and resource allocation.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with engineering, product, and external partners to translate research into components and insights.
• Communicate research成果: publish, present at conferences, contribute to open-source, represent the team externally.
• Foster an inclusive, high-performing culture and help the team grow through challenges.
• Stay connected to research trends and help set them; thrive in a fast-paced startup environment.

Skills

research leadership

publications

team management

communication skills

Education

PhD

Job description

Scale AI accelerates the development of AI systems by providing the data, infrastructure, and tooling that power the most advanced models in the world. Our teams operate at the intersection of cutting-edge research, large-scale engineering, and real-world deployment, partnering with leading frontier labs, enterprises, and government agencies to push Generative AI into new capabilities and applications.

As AI rapidly evolves from static models to dynamic, agentic systems, Scale is building the foundational research, evaluation methodologies, and agent/RL infrastructure that will define this next era. You’ll join a high-impact research organization driving advances in large-language models, post-training, evaluation, and agentic/RL environments, helping shape how next‑generation AI is built, measured, and deployed.

As a Research Scientist Manager, you will lead a world‑class team of research scientists and engineers, define the research roadmap, and drive execution from early prototyping to deployment. You’ll thrive in a fast‑moving environment, balancing deep technical leadership with people management, vision setting, and delivery.

You will:

• Lead, mentor and grow a team of research scientists and engineers working on GenAI research initiatives (e.g., evaluation, post‑training, agents, RL environments).

• Define and drive a multi‑year research roadmap: identify key scientific questions, set milestones, allocate resources, and ensure rigorous execution.

• Collaborate cross‑functionally with engineering, product, client‑facing teams and external academic or industry partners to translate research into components, insights, and actionable outcomes.

• Communicate compellingly: publish research, present at conferences, engage in open‑source contributions, and represent the team externally.

• Drive an inclusive, high‑performing culture: help your team through technical challenges, provide growth opportunities, and attract top talent.

• Stay deeply connected to the research community, understanding major trends, and helping set them.

• Thrive in a high‑energy, fast‑paced startup environment and are ready to dedicate the time and effort needed to drive impactful results.

Ideally you'd have:

• 5+ years of hands‑on research experience (PhD or equivalent preferred) in machine learning, deep learning, generative models, agent/rl systems or related domains.

• A strong track record of research excellence, including publications in top‑tier ML/AI venues (NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, ACL, etc.).

• Experience and track of recording in landing major research impacts in a fast‑paced environment

• Experience leading or managing research teams. You’re excited to mentor, coach and develop talent.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills. You are able to articulate research ideas and outcomes to both technical and non‑technical stakeholders.

Compensation packages at Scale for eligible roles include base salary, equity, and benefits. The range displayed on each job posting reflects the minimum and maximum target for new hire salaries for the position and may be inclusive of several career levels at Scale; it will be determined during the interview process based on work location and additional factors, including job‑related skills, experience, qualifications, interview performance, and relevant education or training. Scale employees in eligible roles are also granted equity based compensation, subject to Board of Director approval. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for your preferred location during the hiring process, and confirm whether the hired role will be eligible for equity grant.

• comprehensive health, dental and vision coverage, retirement benefits, a learning and development stipend, and generous PTO


• a commuter stipend

Please reference the job posting's subtitle for where this position will be located. For pay transparency purposes, the base salary range for this full‑time position in the locations of San Francisco, New York, Seattle is:

$290,400-$363,000 USD

PLEASE NOTE: Our policy requires a 90‑day waiting period before reconsidering candidates for the same role. This allows us to ensure a fair and thorough evaluation of all applicants.

About Us:

At Scale, our mission is to develop reliable AI systems for the world's most important decisions. Our products provide the high‑quality data and full‑stack technologies that power the world's leading models, and help enterprises and governments build, deploy, and oversee AI applications that deliver real impact. We work closely with industry leaders like Meta, Ernst& Young, Mayo Clinic, Time Inc., the Government of Qatar, and U.S. government agencies including the Army and Air Force. We are expanding our team to accelerate the development of AI applications.

We believe that everyone should be able to bring their whole selves to work, which is why we are proud to be an inclusive and equal opportunity workplace. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability status, gender identity or Veteran status.

We are committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodations to applicants with physical and mental disabilities. If you need assistance and/or a reasonable accommodation in the application or recruiting process due to a disability, please contact us at [e-mail]. Please see the United States Department of Labor's Know Your Rights poster for additional information.

We comply with the United States Department of Labor's Pay Transparency provision.

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