People Research Scientist, Recruiting

United States Digital Space LLC; Washington; Hybrid; USD 285,000 - 380,000; Full time

Job summary

United States Digital Space LLC is seeking a Recruiting Research Scientist to join our People Data Solutions team. You’ll apply rigorous scientific methods to advance our understanding of recruiting funnels, interview effectiveness, candidate experience, and recruiting capacity, guiding evidence-based people decisions across our growing organization.

This role sits at the intersection of organizational science, behavioral research, and people strategy—developing novel frameworks and conducting

Qualifications

• Hold an advanced degree (Master’s or PhD) in I/O Psychology, Organizational Behavior, Statistics, Data Science, Economics, Behavioral Science, or a related research field
• Have experience with selection research, assessment validation, psychometrics, or recruiting funnel analytics
• Are comfortable working in the People Analytics tech stack and collaborating with data engineers
• Are proficient in SQL and Python/R, with experience in statistical analysis and machine learning
• Have experience with data visualization and can tell compelling stories with research findings
• Possess excellent communication skills and can influence stakeholders at all levels
• Thrive in ambiguity and can balance rigor with pragmatism
• Have a track record of challenging assumptions with data and changing long-held practices
• Can navigate sensitive topics diplomatically while maintaining analytical rigor
• Demonstrate intellectual humility and comfort with iterative discovery
• Use data to improve how organizations find, assess, and hire talent

Responsibilities

• Design and execute validation studies to assess the quality of interviews and other selection tools
• Utilize psychometric techniques to analyze and improve interviewer calibration and rating consistency
• Lead investigative research into innovative approaches for candidate assessment
• Design the metrics framework for recruiting org health — defining the canonical KPIs, dimensions, and definitions that leadership uses to understand funnel performance, capacity, and hiring quality
• Establish the governance and definitional rigor that keeps metrics consistent across tools and reporting surfaces
• Architect analytical solutions that convert research insights into actionable products, empowering stakeholders to execute data-driven scenario and strategic planning
• Quantify the adoption and downstream impact of deployed tools, driving iterative improvements
• Build compelling visualizations and dashboards that make complex research findings accessible to diverse audiences
• Present research findings to senior leadership with clear, actionable recommendations

Job description

About the company

the company’s mission is to create reliable, interpretable, and steerable AI systems. We want AI to be safe and beneficial for our users and for society as a whole. Our team is a quickly growing group of committed researchers, engineers, policy experts, and business leaders working together to build beneficial AI systems.

About the role

We are seeking a Recruiting Research Scientist to join our People Data Solutions team. You’ll be the research expert supporting our Recruiting organization, using rigorous scientific methods to advance our understanding of recruiting funnels, interview effectiveness, candidate experience, and recruiting capacity. This role sits at the intersection of organizational science, behavioral research, and people strategy – developing novel frameworks and conducting systematic research that drives evidence-based people decisions across our growing organization.

This role offers the opportunity to make a significant impact on both our recruiting practices and the broader field of people science at a leading AI safety company.

Responsibilities

Research design & scientific inquiry

• Design and execute systematic research studies to answer fundamental questions about recruiting funnel health, assessment quality, candidate experience, and quality of hire
• Generate and test hypotheses about sourcing strategies, interview design, and selection decisions using rigorous experimental and quasi-experimental methods
• Conduct mixed-method research to understand what are the drivers and blockers to recruiting operations.
• Navigate research ethics considerations when studying candidate data, ensuring responsible research practices

Selection & assessment research

• Design and execute validation studies to assess the quality of interviews and other selection tools
• Utilize psychometric techniques to analyze and improve interviewer calibration and rating consistency
• Lead investigative research into innovative approaches for candidate assessment

Metrics design and governance

• Design the metrics framework for recruiting org health — defining the canonical KPIs, dimensions, and definitions that leadership uses to understand funnel performance, capacity, and hiring quality
• Establish the governance and definitional rigor that keeps metrics consistent across tools and reporting surfaces

Analytical solution building

• Architect analytical solutions that convert research insights into actionable products, empowering stakeholders to execute data-driven scenario and strategic planning
• Quantify the adoption and downstream impact of deployed tools, driving iterative improvements

Visualization & communication

• Build compelling visualizations and dashboards that make complex research findings accessible to diverse audiences
• Present research findings to senior leadership with clear, actionable recommendations

Minimum Qualifications:

• Hold an advanced degree (Master’s or PhD) in I/O Psychology, Organizational Behavior, Statistics, Data Science, Economics, Behavioral Science, or a related research field
• Have experience with selection research, assessment validation, psychometrics, or recruiting funnel analytics
• Are comfortable working in the People Analytics tech stack and collaborating with data engineers
• Are proficient in SQL and Python/R, with experience in statistical analysis and machine learning
• Have experience with data visualization and can tell compelling stories with research findings
• Possess excellent communication skills and can influence stakeholders at all levels
• Thrive in ambiguity and can balance rigor with pragmatism
• Have a track record of challenging assumptions with data and changing long-held practices
• Can navigate sensitive topics diplomatically while maintaining analytical rigor
• Demonstrate intellectual humility and comfort with iterative discovery
• Use data to improve how organizations find, assess, and hire talent

Preferred Qualifications:

• 5 + years of experience in research, people analytics, or related quantitative fields with demonstrated research methodology expertise
• Background in recruiting analytics specifically (not just general analytics)
• Experience running interview or assessment validation studies
• Experience building self-service analytics tools or dashboards
• Previous experience in high-growth technology companies or AI/ML organizations
• Familiarity with network analysis, machine learning, or advanced statistical methods
• Experience with BigQuery and modern data stack tools
• Experience with Greenhouse, Gem, ModernLoop, or similar recruiting tools

Salary

Annual Salary:

$285,000—$380,000 USD

Logistics

Minimum education: Bachelor’s degree or an equivalent combination of education, training, and/or experience

Required field of study: A field relevant to the role as demonstrated through coursework, training, or professional experience

Minimum years of experience: Years of experience required will correlate with the internal job level requirements for the position

Location-based hybrid policy: Currently, we expect all staff to be in one of our offices at least 25% of the time. However, some roles may require more time in our offices.

Visa sponsorship: We do sponsor visas! However, we aren't able to successfully sponsor visas for every role and every candidate. But if we make you an offer, we will make every reasonable effort to get you a visa, and we retain an immigration lawyer to help with this.

Not all strong candidates will meet every single qualification as listed. Research shows that people who identify as being from underrepresented groups are more prone to experiencing imposter syndrome and doubting the strength of their candidacy, so we urge you not to exclude yourself prematurely and to submit an application if you're interested in this work. We think AI systems like the ones we're building have enormous social and ethical implications. We think this makes representation even more important, and we strive to include a range of diverse perspectives on our team.

Your safety matters to us.