Research Scientist

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 between 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!

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 $175,000 – $250,000 plus equity opportunities
• Growth oriented environment where your work directly impacts product direction and customer success

Learn more about our recent launch in Forbes: Snorkel AI Raises $100 Million to Build Better Evaluators for AI Models`

Explore our Expert Data as a Service offering: snorkel.ai/expert-data-as-a-service

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.

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.