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Director, Forward Deployed Researcher - Data as a Service

Snorkel AINew York City, NY (Hybrid); San Francisco, CA (Hybrid); United States (Remote)415 - DaaS Sales & Success
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Salary
$228,800 - $403,200 USD
Job type
Full-time
Work mode
Remote
Posted
25 Mar 2026
Status
Open · checked 7d ago

About this role

Snorkel AI is seeking a Director, Forward Deployed Researcher to lead technical initiatives on the Data-as-a-Service team in New York City, San Francisco, or remotely across the United States. This player-coach opportunity suits an experienced AI leader who enjoys balancing team management with hands-on technical collaboration on strategic accounts.

Role Overview

In this position, leadership responsibilities occupy roughly half of the schedule, covering hiring, mentorship, and professional development for the team. The remaining time involves direct technical execution on major accounts, setting high bars for specifications, and establishing repeatable playbooks. Collaboration happens daily with sales leadership, account executives, and cross-functional partners in delivery, research, and engineering to ensure smooth operational handoffs.

Key Responsibilities

Recruit, hire, mentor, and foster the career growth of the forward deployed research team while maintaining strict technical standards for deliverables.
Partner directly with frontier AI labs to understand complex data challenges, scope training data needs, design reinforcement learning environments, and build evaluation frameworks.
Oversee capacity planning, account coverage, and solution engineering allocation while collaborating with sales leadership on pipeline forecasting and deal strategy.
Formulate standard processes and playbooks focused on discovery, specification development, and internal knowledge sharing.
Act as the primary technical escalation point for high-stakes or exceptionally complex customer scenarios.

Requirements

Bring at least eight years of professional background in applied machine learning, AI solutions engineering, technical presales, or research-intensive customer-facing environments.
Possess a minimum of five years of experience managing or leading technical individual contributors, preferably within a solutions engineering or presales organization.
Demonstrate deep expertise in frontier artificial intelligence concepts, including large language models, training data pipelines, post-training techniques like DPO and RLHF, and evaluation methodologies.
Show a proven history of scaling technical talent and hitting revenue or pipeline targets inside a go-to-market structure.
Hold a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science, Machine Learning, or a closely related academic discipline.

Skills and Tools

Frontier AI Concepts
Large Language Models (LLMs)
Training Data Pipelines
Evaluation Methodologies
Post-Training Techniques (RLHF, DPO, RLAIF)
Reinforcement Learning Environments
Solutions Engineering and Presales

Salary and Benefits

The base salary range for this position spans from $228,800 to $403,200 per year, supplemented by variable compensation and equity eligibility. Total compensation is determined based on geographic location, individual qualifications, skills, and relevant experience.

About the Company

Originating out of the Stanford AI Lab in 2019, Snorkel AI serves as a frontier AI data lab that helps organizations build robust data environments for advanced artificial intelligence systems. The company combines innovative technology with research-driven data development to supply custom datasets, benchmarks, and evaluations for real-world implementations.

How to Apply

Interested candidates should visit the official Snorkel AI careers page to submit an application for this position.

Questions candidates ask

What locations are available for this role?

This position is available as a hybrid role in New York City, New York, or San Francisco, California, as well as a remote option across the United States.

What is the compensation range for the Director, Forward Deployed Researcher?

The base salary ranges from $228,800 to $403,200 annually, with additional eligibility for variable compensation and equity.

How is the time split in this player-coach position?

Roughly half of the time is dedicated to people leadership tasks such as hiring and coaching, while the other half involves hands-on technical work on strategic accounts.

What qualifications are required regarding experience?

Candidates must have at least 8 years of experience in applied machine learning, AI solutions engineering, or technical presales, including 5 or more years managing technical individual contributors.

What educational background is needed?

A Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science, Machine Learning, or a related field is required.

Ready to apply?

The application is on the official Snorkel AI careers page.

Apply on company site