Research Scientist - Frontier Benchmarks
Snorkel AI
$200,000 - $375,000 / year
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Description
About Snorkel
At Snorkel, we believe meaningful AI doesn’t start with the model, it starts with the data.
We’re on a mission to help enterprises transform expert knowledge into specialized AI at scale. The AI landscape has gone through incredible changes since 2015, 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!
ABOUT THE ROLE
We're looking for a Research Scientist to lead the design of next-generation benchmarks and datasets that push the boundaries of frontier model evaluation. You'll define what "good" looks like across a range of hard tasks, drawing on conversations with customers and academic partners to ground your datasets in real performance gaps. You'll build both the benchmarks that measure those gaps and the training data that helps close them, then partner with delivery, product, and go-to-market to bring what you build into production.
This role is ideal for someone who wants to shape how the field measures progress in frontier AI, and who's energized by doing that work inside a fast-moving, cross-functional startup.
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.
Actual compensation will be determined based on factors including skills, qualifications, experience, and geographic location.
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.
About this role
Snorkel AI is seeking a Research Scientist to lead the creation of benchmarks and datasets that define how frontier AI models are evaluated and trained. You'll work directly with customers and academic partners to identify real performance gaps, then design both the evaluation benchmarks that measure those gaps and the training data that helps close them. This is fundamentally about shaping what the field considers progress in large language models—and doing it from inside a well-funded, fast-growing startup rather than academia alone.
The role demands strong research chops in ML evaluation, NLP, or a related area, with demonstrated ability to design rigorous experiments around how training and evaluation data actually affect model behavior. Equally important is the ability to translate technical findings into clear narratives for both technical and non-technical audiences, since you'll be presenting to customers, writing reports, and representing the company at conferences and in publications. You'll need comfort operating in ambiguous, cross-functional environments where you're working with data operations, product, engineering, and strategy teams to surface insights that inform company direction.
This position suits someone with a Ph.D. in machine learning or NLP (or equivalent research lab or industry experience) who is genuinely interested in the commercial and go-to-market side of AI data services, not just the research itself. The hybrid role is based in New York City, with compensation between $200,000 and $375,000 depending on qualifications and experience.
How this employer is doing
solid
- H1B: Sponsors Visas
- Recently Raised Funding
- Sponsors Visas
In the news
Snorkel AI Raises $85M at $1B Valuation for Data-Centric AI, HPCwire
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Pay for this role
$200,000 to $375,000 per year
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