Research Scientist, Open Benchmarks Grants

Snorkel AI; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

Snorkel AI seeks a Staff or Senior Research Scientist to lead the development of frontier benchmarks and datasets. You will be a technical partner for customers and work with partners across research, data operations, product, and go-to-market to scale production.

You will report to the Head of Research and thrive in a cross-functional startup environment that blends research, data operations, and commercial activities.

Qualifications

• Strong research background in AI/ML evaluation, NLP, or related fields.
• Experience designing rigorous experiments to measure data impact on model behavior.
• Exceptional ability to communicate complex technical findings.

Responsibilities

• Design state-of-the-art datasets that drive frontier model training and evaluation.
• Translate benchmark insights into narratives for ROI in customer-facing materials.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with data operations, product, engineering, and strategy.

Skills

AI/ML evaluation

NLP

Experimental design

Communication skills

GTM strategy interest

Education

PhD in ML/NLP or related field

Job description

About Snorkel

Snorkel AI is the frontier AI data lab, helping teams build the data and environments behind high-performing frontier and agentic AI. We combine technology with research-driven AI data development to create datasets, benchmarks, evals, and custom solutions for real-world AI systems. Founded out of the Stanford AI Lab in 2019, Snorkel works with leading AI labs and enterprises to move from better data to better outcomes.

About Snorkel

Snorkel AI is the frontier AI data lab, helping teams build the data and environments behind high-performing frontier and agentic AI. We combine technology with research-driven AI data development to create datasets, benchmarks, evals, and custom solutions for real-world AI systems. Founded out of the Stanford AI Lab in 2019, Snorkel works with leading AI labs and enterprises to move from better data to better outcomes.

About The Role

We're looking for a Staff or Senior Research Scientist to collaborate with partners and lead the development of the next frontier benchmarks and datasets. This is a highly visible, customer-facing role at the intersection of research, company strategy, and go-to-market. You'll design datasets taking into account frontier model performance and work with our academic partners, and then partner with delivery, product and go-to-market to scale out production. You will also serve as a credible technical partner for our customers, prospects, and drive results that impact the broader research community.

This role reports directly to the Head of Research and is ideal for someone who is energized by cross-functional work and wants to understand how startups operate across research, data operations, and commercial teams.

Main Responsibilities

• Design state of the art datasets that drive frontier model training and evaluation based on current model performance and academic partnerships
• Translate benchmark insights into clear, compelling narratives that articulate the ROI of expert-curated data for customer-facing presentations, technical reports, and go-to-market materials.
• Work cross-functionally with data operations, product, engineering, and strategy to surface research findings that inform the company roadmap.
• Stay at the frontier of LLM evaluation research and bring best practices into Snorkel's workflows
• Represent Snorkel's research externally through publications, blog posts, conference talks, and customer engagements that advance the conversation around data-centric AI

Preferred Qualifications

• Strong research background in AI/ML evaluation, NLP, or related fields, with a track record of rigorous experimental design — especially around measuring the impact of training and evaluation data on model behavior.
• Exceptional communication skills — able to present complex technical findings clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences
• Comfort operating in a fast-moving, cross-functional environment with ambiguous problem spaces
• Genuine interest in GTM strategy, startup dynamics, and the commercial side of AI data services.
• Ph.D. in machine learning, NLP, or a related field preferred; equivalent industry or research lab experience considered.

Be Your Best at Snorkel

Joining Snorkel AI means becoming part of a company that has market proven solutions, robust funding, and is scaling rapidly—offering a unique combination of stability and the excitement of high growth. As a member of our team, you’ll have meaningful opportunities to shape priorities and initiatives, influence key strategic decisions, and directly impact our ongoing success. Whether you’re looking to deepen your technical expertise, explore leadership opportunities, or learn new skills across multiple functions, you’re fully supported in building your career in an environment designed for growth, learning, and shared success.

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.