Member of Technical Staff

Team - Practical Alignment

Member of Technical Staff - Research Engineer/Scientist (OpenAI, LP; San Francisco, CA): Contribute to the human data collection and statistical analysis processes for fine-tuning large artificial intelligence (AI) models. Conduct experiments with human research participants (OpenAI contractors) to obtain feedback for the improvement of large-scale neural network models and find answers to research questions (i.e. finding the most effective types of data to collect, what interfaces and questions most efficiently elicit information from labelers, and how to scale human data collection processes while maintaining high agreement rates between contractors and researchers). Extract, preprocess, visualize, and statistically analyze resulting human behavioral data. Write Python code to collect data from human labelers and perform detailed data analysis (stand-alone scripts to process data, training models, and interacting with a large deep learning codebase). Collaborate with OpenAI’s Policy Team and experts in fields of AI ethics and AI governance to support the development of ethical standards and identify the harms of technology for research in an industry setting. Participate in the decision-making process for how large AI models can be fine-tuned to align with human values.

Minimum requirements: Doctorate (Ph.D.) or foreign equivalent in Neuroscience, Applied Data Science, or related field, plus one (1) year of experience as a Data Scientist, Researcher, Scholar, or related occupation. Must have experience with the following: programming software to run experiments and analyze data using data visualization tools (Python and Jupyter Notebook); software tools for running machine learning experiments (Pytorch or TensorFlow); behavioral data collection methodologies with human research participants; and machine learning and deep learning models (Transformer language models).

Salary: $245,000 - $300,000 per year

About the Team

The OpenAI Alignment Team’s research goal is to make machine learning models that are honest and helpful to humans.  We put an emphasis on solutions that scale well as models become more capable - our strategy is to have AI models both learning from human feedback and helping humans in their day to day.  For an example of recent work, see our paper on critiques.

About OpenAI

OpenAI is an AI research and deployment company dedicated to ensuring that general-purpose artificial intelligence benefits all of humanity. We push the boundaries of the capabilities of AI systems and seek to safely deploy them to the world through our products. AI is an extremely powerful tool that must be created with safety and human needs at its core, and to achieve our mission, we must encompass and value the many different perspectives, voices, and experiences that form the full spectrum of humanity. 
 
At OpenAI, we believe artificial intelligence has the potential to help people solve immense global challenges, and we want the upside of AI to be widely shared. Join us in shaping the future of technology.

Benefits and Perks

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance for you and your family
• Mental health and wellness support
• 401(k) plan with 4% matching
• Unlimited time off and 18+ company holidays per year
• Paid parental leave (20 weeks) and family-planning support
• Annual learning & development stipend ($1,500 per year)

We are an equal opportunity employer and do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, veteran status, disability or other legally protected statuses. Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records. 

We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities, and requests can be made via accommodation@openai.com.

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