SEAL Research Scientist, Scalable Oversight

As the leading data and evaluation partner for frontier AI companies, Scale plays an integral role in understanding the capabilities and safeguarding large language models (LLMs). Safety, Evaluations and Alignment Lab (SEAL) is Scale’s frontier research effort dedicated to tackling the challenging research problems in evaluation, red teaming, and alignment of advanced AI systems.

We are actively seeking talented researchers to join us in shaping the landscape for safety and transparency for the entire AI industry. We support collaborations across the industry and academia and the publication of our research findings. 

As a Research Scientist working on Scalable Oversight, you will develop and evaluate methods for evaluation and supervision of advanced AI systems. For example, you might do any or all of the following: 

• Design experiments to exemplify failure modes of current supervision protocols for language models 
• Design experiments to simulate expertise and capability gaps between supervisor and model for scalable oversight experiments
• Develop new supervision protocols and gather human annotations using these protocols 
• Train language models using reinforcement learning, analyzing their behavior and comparing between models 

Ideally you’d have:

• Commitment to our mission of promoting safe, secure, and trustworthy AI deployments in the industry as frontier AI capabilities continue to advance.
• Practical experience conducting technical research collaboratively, with proficiency in frameworks like Pytorch, Jax, or Tensorflow. You should also be adept at interpreting research literature and quickly turning new ideas into prototypes.
• A track record of published research in machine learning, particularly in generative AI.
• At least three years of experience addressing sophisticated ML problems, whether in a research setting or in product development.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills to operate in a cross functional team.

Nice to have:

• Hands-on experience with open source LLM fine-tuning or involvement in bespoke LLM fine-tuning projects using Pytorch/Jax.
• Experience in crafting evaluations or a background in data science roles related to LLM technologies.
• Experience working with cloud technology stack (eg. AWS or GCP) and developing machine learning models in a cloud environment.

Our research interviews are crafted to assess candidates' skills in practical ML prototyping and debugging, their grasp of research concepts, and their alignment with our organizational culture. We will not ask any LeetCode-style questions.

Compensation packages at Scale for eligible roles include base salary, equity, and benefits. The range displayed on each job posting reflects the minimum and maximum target for new hire salaries for the position, determined by work location and additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, interview performance, and relevant education or training. Scale employees in eligible roles are also granted equity based compensation, subject to Board of Director approval. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for your preferred location during the hiring process, and confirm whether the hired role will be eligible for equity grant. You’ll also receive benefits including, but not limited to: Comprehensive health, dental and vision coverage, retirement benefits, a learning and development stipend, and generous PTO. Additionally, this role may be eligible for additional benefits such as a commuter stipend.

Please reference the job posting's subtitle for where this position will be located. For pay transparency purposes, the base salary range for this full-time position in the locations of San Francisco, New York, Seattle is:$176,000—$300,000 USD

PLEASE NOTE: Our policy requires a 90-day waiting period before reconsidering candidates for the same role. This allows us to ensure a fair and thorough evaluation of all applicants.

About Us:

At Scale, we believe that the transition from traditional software to AI is one of the most important shifts of our time. Our mission is to make that happen faster across every industry, and our team is transforming how organizations build and deploy AI.  Our products power the world's most advanced LLMs, generative models, and computer vision models. We are trusted by generative AI companies such as OpenAI, Meta, and Microsoft, government agencies like the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force, and enterprises including GM and Accenture. We are expanding our team to accelerate the development of AI applications.

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