RESEARCH SCIENTIST

Snorkel AI; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 175,000 - 250,000; Full time

Job summary

Join a leading AI company as a Research Scientist, focusing on data generation and curation for frontier AI systems. Collaborate across teams and contribute to innovative techniques that enhance data workflows. This role is ideal for PhD holders passionate about making an impact in AI and machine learning.

Benefits

Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision plans

Yearly wellness stipend

401k program

Parental leave for new parents (up to 20 weeks paid)

Workstation setup allowance

Qualifications

• Strong foundation in large language models and generative AI.
• Experience in developing AI models and data pipelines at scale.
• Track record of working in fast-paced, iterative environments.

Responsibilities

• Conduct research on data curation and generation to support use cases.
• Collaborate with teams to translate goals into data requirements.
• Design data generation and curation pipelines for DaaS offerings.

Skills

Data-centric AI

Synthetic data generation

Programming in Python

Communication and collaboration skills

Education

PhD in Computer Science or related field

Tools

PyTorch

HuggingFace

Job description

We’re on a mission to democratize AI by building the definitive AI data development platform. The AI landscape has gone through incredible change between 2016, when Snorkel started as a research project in the Stanford AI Lab, to the generative AI breakthroughs of today. But one thing has remained constant : the data you use to build AI is the key to achieving differentiation, high performance, and production-ready systems. We work with some of the world’s largest organizations to empower scientists, engineers, financial experts, product creators, journalists, and more to build custom AI with their data faster than ever before. Excited to help us redefine how AI is built? Apply to be the newest Snorkeler!

The Expert Data-as-a-Service (DaaS) team delivers high-quality, large-scale datasets that power frontier AI systems. As a researcher working on DaaS , you will focus on developing novel approaches for data generation, curation and evaluation. You will be responsible for designing innovative techniques that combine automated methods with human expertise to achieve best-in-class efficiency and quality. You will collaborate closely with engineering and operations teams, as well as our customers’ research teams, to define the future of data generation workflows that will power frontier AI models.

Main Responsibilities

• Conduct research on data curation and generation to support emerging use cases across domains
• Collaborate with customer research teams to translate their high-level goals into data requirements, and annotation guidelines and workflows
• Design and prototype data generation and curation pipelines that feed directly into Data as a Service offerings
• Build sophisticated evaluators to measure quality in our data, including coverage, bias, and utility
• Write clear, maintainable Python code to support experiments and production pipelines; contribute to internal tooling and shared libraries
• Iterate rapidly on solutions based on customer feedback, emerging research, and evolving DaaS requirements
• Collaborate cross-functionally with delivery managers, vendors, and engineering teams to research to production

Preferred Qualifications

• PhD. in Computer Science or a related field with focus on data centric AI and synthetic data generation
• Strong foundation in large language models, generative AI, or data generation techniques, especially for supervised fine-tuning and reinforcement learning
• Experience developing, experimenting with, and deploying AI models and data pipelines at scale
• Solid programming skills in Python; familiarity with ML frameworks such as PyTorch, HuggingFace, etc. And familiarity with software engineering best practices and clean coding.
• Track record of working in fast paced, iterative environments and handling uncertainty in project requirements
• Bias for action, comfortable rolling up your sleeves, experimenting, and iterating quickly to solve problems
• Strong communication and collaboration skills, especially when working across research, engineering, and delivery teams

Nice to Have

• Past experience in data labeling, annotation, or curation projects
• Publications or contributions related to data curation for LLM fine tuning
• Knowledge of production workflows for DaaS offerings or data delivery teams
• Familiarity with quality control processes for high volume data pipelines

Why Join Us?

• Be part of a growing Data as a Service business that powers frontier AI models for top enterprises
• Work at the intersection of research and production, bringing novel data generation and curation techniques into real world pipelines
• Collaborate with a founder stage DaaS team, contributing to development of processes, tooling, and quality standards
• Competitive compensation range of $140,000 – $275,000 plus equity opportunities
• Growth oriented environment where your work directly impacts product direction and customer success

This role is ideal for candidates who love both research and building real AI systems in a dynamic, high impact setting. A PhD in machine learning or related field with a strong publication record is preferred, but we also welcome applications from those with equivalent expertise gained through industry experience, research labs, or other career paths.

Salary Range

175,000 - $250,000 USD

Be Your Best At Snorkel

Snorkel AI is on a mission to make machine learning practical for everyone, and it starts with building a team that welcomes, represents and gives opportunity to all. We work at the frontier of AI and software engineering, and believe that underrepresented communities need to play a part in shaping the future of these fields. At Snorkel AI, we actively work to create an environment that values end-to-end ownership, diverse forms of impact, and opportunities for personal growth.

Snorkelers are supported by an amazing team and an amazing set of benefits. For Full-time employees, we offer comprehensive medical, dental, and vision plans for Snorkelers and their families, plus a yearly wellness stipend. Our 401k program lets Snorkelers plan for their future and our parental leave program lets new parents take up to 20 weeks of paid time off. Learn more about these benefits and more — like our workstation setup allowance — on our Careers page.

Snorkel AI is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer and is committed to building a team that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. Snorkel AI embraces diversity and provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment. Snorkel AI prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type on the basis of race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, performance, merit, and business need.

We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.

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Research Scientist • San Francisco, CA, United States