Talent.com
Research Scientist
Research Scientistkadence • Sonoma, CA, US
Research Scientist

Research Scientist

kadence • Sonoma, CA, US
[job_card.variable_days_ago]
[job_preview.job_type]
  • [job_card.full_time]
[job_card.job_description]

About the Company

We are a seed-stage AI company building the industry standard for evaluating and benchmarking large language models on real enterprise tasks.

About the Role

As a Research Scientist, you will develop new benchmarks, methodologies, and evaluation pipelines that shape how cutting-edge models are assessed, compared, and deployed in production environments. Your work will directly influence model selection and safety decisions across foundation model labs, high-growth AI product companies, and Fortune-scale enterprises.

Responsibilities

Benchmarking & Model Analysis

  • Evaluate newly released models as they launch (e.g., Gemini, DeepSeek, etc.)
  • Run large-scale assessment workflows using internal evaluation infrastructure
  • Compare model performance across enterprise-grade task categories

Design New Benchmarks from Scratch

  • Identify high-value model application domains through research exploration
  • Construct datasets, including labeling strategy and workforce coordination
  • Write short "white-paper-style" summaries explaining benchmark purpose, method, and findings

    • Advance Automated Evaluation Methodologies

  • Improve systems for scoring generated text beyond standard metrics
  • Explore research in reference-free, rubric-based, and human-aligned evaluation
  • Develop new techniques for reliability, consistency, and repeatability

    • Cross-functional Collaboration

  • Work closely with engineering to scale evaluation infra
  • Partner with customers to refine evaluation relevance and task fit
  • Influence product direction through research insights

    • Qualifications

  • 0–3 years post-grad experience (Master's, PhD, or equivalent applied research)
  • Publications, preprints, or demos showing cutting-edge work
  • Experience with diffusion models, NLP, multimodal, or benchmarking work
  • Ability to operate independently with ambiguity
  • Clean, maintainable research codebases
  • Candidates from :
  • top engineering / research universities
  • applied AI startups
  • well-regarded research internships

    • Required Skills

  • Built or contributed to a benchmark or evaluation methodology
  • Experience in enterprise task model evaluation
  • Stanford / top lab adjacency (per their historical hiring success)

    • Preferred Skills

  • Wants to publish as primary motivation
  • Purely academic with slow timelines
  • Big-tech culture fit concerns (Meta / Google / Salesforce specifically noted—but case-by-case)

    • Pay range and compensation package

  • Base Salary : up to $250K depending on background
  • Equity : typically 0.3% – 0.5%, flexibility for exceptional candidates
  • Rapid equity refresh possible based on impact

    • Equal Opportunity Statement

    Visa sponsorship available. Relocation support. Health & dental coverage. Lunch + dinner provided, snacks & coffee. Unlimited PTO. Weekly happy hours with community guests. Team events (bowling, hiking, rock climbing, etc.). Swag program (hats, etc.).

    Work Environment & Culture

    In-person, San Francisco HQ (required). Core hours : 9–5, some teammates extend voluntarily. Most team members work 1 weekend day per week (flexible). High-ownership, low-ego, collaborative. Live demos Mondays, team lunch Thursdays, community Fridays. Early-stage pace, applied focus—not academic publishing.

    Tech Environment

    (while research-focused, exposure beneficial) Backend : Python / Django. Frontend : React + TypeScript. Infra : AWS. Evaluation frameworks + internal tooling.

    Why This Role Is Unique

    The company already collaborates with foundation model labs, high-growth AI vertical product companies, and Fortune 500 enterprises (not publicly facing). ChatGPT Vals AI $5M seed raised, runway of 2+ years at current burn. Only one research scientist is being hired—true founding impact. Opportunity to define industry standards for model trust, reliability, and certification. Positioned to become the rating agency for generative AI.

    [job_alerts.create_a_job]

    Research Scientist • Sonoma, CA, US

    [internal_linking.similar_jobs]
    Scientist

    Scientist

    Bruker • Emeryville, CA, United States
    [job_card.full_time]
    At Bruker Cellular Analysis (BCA), we create products using advanced optofluidic technology that enable customers to interrogate and recover individual cells for downstream molecular analysis.Our p...[show_more]
    [last_updated.last_updated_30] • [promoted]
    Data Scientist, Technical Lead - Voleon Securities

    Data Scientist, Technical Lead - Voleon Securities

    The Voleon Group • Berkeley, CA, US
    [job_card.full_time]
    Voleon Securities, a new business within the Voleon Group, provides liquidity in securities markets.We apply state-of-the-art AI / ML techniques to construct our liquidity-provision strategies.For mo...[show_more]
    [last_updated.last_updated_variable_days] • [promoted]
    Associate Scientist, Advanced Characterization

    Associate Scientist, Advanced Characterization

    OmniAb • Emeryville, CA, US
    [job_card.full_time]
    OmniAb provides our pharmaceutical industry partners access to the most diverse antibody repertoires and cutting-edge screening technologies to enable discovery of next-generation therapeutics.We l...[show_more]
    [last_updated.last_updated_30] • [promoted]
    Postdoctoral Researcher - HPC Workflow Performance (NESAP / NERSC)

    Postdoctoral Researcher - HPC Workflow Performance (NESAP / NERSC)

    Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory • Berkeley, CA, United States
    [job_card.full_time]
    The National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (.Postdoctoral Researcher - HPC Workflow Performance (NESAP / NERSC) to join the Workflow Readiness team as part of NERSC's Exascale Science A...[show_more]
    [last_updated.last_updated_30] • [promoted]
    Research Associate II / III, Molecular Biology (Contract)

    Research Associate II / III, Molecular Biology (Contract)

    Prolific Machines • Emeryville, CA, US
    [job_card.full_time]
    Prolific Machines is ushering in a new era of biotechnology with light.Our mission is to make next-generation therapies broadly available to patients. Our first-of-its-kind Photomolecular Platf...[show_more]
    [last_updated.last_updated_variable_days] • [promoted]
    Senior AI Scientist at Eluvio AI Labs

    Senior AI Scientist at Eluvio AI Labs

    Eluvio • Berkeley, CA, US
    [job_card.full_time]
    Eluvio is a highly focused and expert team of systems, networking, application, and video software engineers, AI scientists, ML engineers, and security specialists working together to implement the...[show_more]
    [last_updated.last_updated_30] • [promoted]
    Founding Data Scientist

    Founding Data Scientist

    Intelletec • Sonoma, CA, US
    [job_card.full_time]
    Fast-growing AI healthcare startup.Hands-on analytics and modeling : .Strong statistical modeling and ML knowledge (scikit-learn, StatsModels, PyTorch). Comfortable with ambiguity, able to own end-to-...[show_more]
    [last_updated.last_updated_variable_days] • [promoted]
    Beyond Moore Computational Research Scientist

    Beyond Moore Computational Research Scientist

    Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory • Berkeley, CA, United States
    [job_card.full_time]
    Applied math and Computational Sciences Division.Beyond Moore Computational Research Scientist to evaluate and develop devices to hardware / circuit co-design flow for architectural specializations f...[show_more]
    [last_updated.last_updated_variable_days] • [promoted]
    research scientist - RL

    research scientist - RL

    Cerebro • Sonoma, California, United States
    [job_card.full_time]
    Join a Leading Applied Research Lab Pushing the Boundaries of Reinforcement Learning.Are you passionate about advancing the frontiers of. An innovative AI research lab is seeking talented and ambiti...[show_more]
    [last_updated.last_updated_variable_days] • [promoted]
    Applied Research Engineer

    Applied Research Engineer

    Confidential • Sonoma, CA, US
    [job_card.full_time]
    About the Company (Confidential).Our client is a cutting-edge AI research company specializing exclusively in.Series A from top-tier investors. Matrix Partners, Swift Ventures, Y Combinator, and AI ...[show_more]
    [last_updated.last_updated_1_day] • [promoted]
    Senior Food Scientist

    Senior Food Scientist

    UPSIDE Foods • Berkeley, CA, US
    [job_card.full_time]
    Based in Berkeley, CA, UPSIDE Foods grows meat, poultry, and seafood directly from real animal cells.These products are not vegan or vegetarian—they are delicious meat, made without the need ...[show_more]
    [last_updated.last_updated_30] • [promoted]
    Project Scientist

    Project Scientist

    Arcadia Science • Emeryville, CA, US
    [job_card.full_time]
    We are Arcadia Science, an evolutionary biology company founded and led by scientists.Our mission is to turn natural innovations into real-world solutions by developing systematic, and quantitative...[show_more]
    [last_updated.last_updated_30] • [promoted]
    Research Associate III / Senior Research Associate (Biodesigner), Assay Development / Bioanalytica...

    Research Associate III / Senior Research Associate (Biodesigner), Assay Development / Bioanalytica...

    Amber Bio • Sonoma, CA, US
    [job_card.full_time]
    Amber Bio is a biotechnology company pioneering new gene editing modalities using multi-kilobase edits to reach previously undruggable patient populations. Founded by pioneers in the CRISPR field fr...[show_more]
    [last_updated.last_updated_30] • [promoted]
    Research Associate III / Senior Research Associate (Biodesigner), Assay Development / Bioanalytical D

    Research Associate III / Senior Research Associate (Biodesigner), Assay Development / Bioanalytical D

    Amber Bio • Sonoma, CA, US
    [job_card.full_time]
    Amber Bio is a biotechnology company pioneering new gene editing modalities using multi-kilobase edits to reach previously undruggable patient populations. Founded by pioneers in the CRISPR field fr...[show_more]
    [last_updated.last_updated_30] • [promoted]
    Senior Research Engineer

    Senior Research Engineer

    Harrison Clarke • Sonoma, CA, US
    [job_card.full_time]
    A fast-growing, deeply technical AI company is looking for a.This is an opportunity to work at the frontier of AI, helping design and evaluate models that can understand, write, and reason about co...[show_more]
    [last_updated.last_updated_variable_days] • [promoted]
    Research Study Participant

    Research Study Participant

    Reel Edge • San Quentin, California, United States
    [job_card.part_time]
    Focus Group We are a gambling technology company looking for individuals to join our focus group on an ongoing, part-time basis. You will earn $800 to $1,200 for about 20 hours of participation, wit...[show_more]
    [last_updated.last_updated_variable_days] • [promoted]
    Product Development Scientist

    Product Development Scientist

    NotCo • Sonoma, CA, US
    [job_card.full_time]
    We are a group of people united by a strong purpose.We want you to get to know us, and Giuseppe, our very own artificial intelligence. We love good food, but above all, we love the planet, and that'...[show_more]
    [last_updated.last_updated_30] • [promoted]
    Senior AI Research Engineer

    Senior AI Research Engineer

    Deep Abacus • Sonoma, CA, US
    [job_card.full_time]
    VC-backed Series B startup on a high-growth trajectory.Revolutionizing commerce through direct engagement with powerful conversation AI. Join a world-class team with opportunity for rapid career adv...[show_more]
    [last_updated.last_updated_1_day] • [promoted]