Research Scientist

Surge AI; United States; Remote; USD 130,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Surge AI in the United States is seeking a Research Scientist focused on data to push the frontiers of LLM development. You’ll design datasets that guide frontier models, partner directly with AI research teams to test data collection strategies, evaluate dataset quality, and uncover insights that improve alignment, safety, and performance.

This is a research-driven, impactful role where you’ll experiment quickly in production, shape data-centric methodologies, and help define how high-quality

Qualifications

• Deep curiosity about data and its influence on LLM performance.
• Bias toward insight and iteration; design lightweight experiments.
• Desire to shape AI development and data infrastructure.

Responsibilities

• Research data collection strategies and design high-impact data slices that uncover model failure modes.
• Model annotator behavior and design experiments to improve instruction clarity and reward signal reliability.
• Develop metrics and frameworks for evaluating dataset quality and impact on downstream model alignment.

Skills

Data curiosity

Iterative mindset

AI development

Job description

About Us

Our mission is to raise AGI with the richness of human intelligence — curious, witty, imaginative, and full of unexpected brilliance.

Surge was founded by engineers and researchers who dreamed of building the next generation AI. We're building a platform that powers the most powerful models in the world in partnership with companies like Anthropic, Google, Microsoft, and Meta.

At Surge, we believe the path to AGI isn't just about scaling compute—it's about embracing the unlimited ceiling of human intelligence and creativity in the data that shapes these systems. Our platform combines elite human expertise with cutting-edge tools for scalable oversight, from building rich RL environments to conducting rigorous evaluations that go beyond benchmarks. We've run a profitable business from day one without raising venture funding.

The Role

As a Research Scientist focused on data, you’ll work at the cutting edge of LLM development by designing the datasets that shape how frontier models behave. You’ll partner directly with AI research teams to experiment with new data collection strategies, evaluate dataset quality, and uncover insights that improve alignment, safety, and model performance.

This is a research-driven, impact-heavy role: you’ll have the opportunity to test ideas quickly in live production environments, shape data-centric methodologies for some of the world’s top AI labs, and help define how high-quality data fuels the next generation of AI systems.

What We’re Looking for

• Deep Curiosity About Data – Obsession with understanding how the structure, quality, and selection of data influence LLM performance

• Bias Toward Insight and Iteration – You think critically but move fast, designing lightweight experiments to generate actionable results

• Desire to Shape AI Development – Drive to build the foundational data layer that defines how the next generation of AI systems behave
  

What You'll Do

• Research data collection strategies and designing high-impact data slices that uncover model failure modes

• Model annotator behavior and designing experiments to optimize instruction clarity and reward signal reliability

• Develop metrics and frameworks for evaluating dataset quality, diversity, and impact on downstream model alignment