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Senior Research Manager

hudSan FranciscoEngineering & Research
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Salary
$120K – $295K
Job type
Full-time
Experience
Senior
Posted
26 Sept 2026
Status
Open · checked 9d ago

About this role

San Francisco or remote work is available for the Senior Research Manager position at HUD, guiding the development of agent training data and evaluation infrastructure. This role suits experienced technical leaders with a strong background in machine learning and team management.

Role Overview

HUD seeks a Senior Research Manager to lead research initiatives focused on making agent training data and evaluations more effective for frontier models. The person in this position will guide research engineers through ambiguous projects, direct experimental setups, and turn findings into scalable methodologies. The role requires staying close to the technical work while helping the team design rigorous experiments and evaluate model training dynamics.

Key Responsibilities

Establish the research direction for data quality, including measuring how training data impacts agent behavior and post-training performance.
Lead synthetic data initiatives to transform various data formats into useful training resources.
Guide research engineers through problem definition, experimentation, implementation, and conclusion delivery while mentoring their technical execution.
Design and review experiments connecting model behavior and failure modes to data, environment, and reward design.
Create validation and improvement methods for training data at scale, utilizing trajectory audits, adversarial checks, and user feedback loops.
Partner with domain experts, data vendors, and research engineers to translate insights into improved workflows, tools, and quality standards.
Communicate research findings and tradeoffs to help the team prioritize tasks across research areas.

Requirements

Track record of leading technical research projects from open questions to working results.
Direct experience managing and mentoring researchers or research engineers while remaining hands-on with technical tasks.
Deep understanding of machine learning and reinforcement learning, particularly regarding how training objectives and data shape model behavior.
Experience working with agent training data, benchmarks, evaluations, synthetic data, or model evaluation infrastructure.
Sound experimental judgment to differentiate genuine training signals from misleading metrics.
Strong written communication skills with the ability to explain methods to both internal and external stakeholders.

Nice to Have

Background in building scalable data quality systems or validation pipelines for model training.
Experience diagnosing reward hacking, grader errors, and subtle agent failure modes.
Experience turning research findings into production tools and processes.
Early-stage startup experience with strong cross-team and cross-timezone communication skills.

Skills and Tools

Machine Learning
Reinforcement Learning
Agent Training Data
Model Evaluation Infrastructure
Synthetic Data

Salary and Benefits

Base salary ranging from $120,000 to $295,000, adjusted for experience and location (San Francisco: $200K–$295K; Singapore: $150K–$225K; Rest of world: $120K–$225K).
100% covered top-tier medical, dental, and vision insurance from Blue Shield of California for US employees.
Daily lunch and dinner provisions for in-office personnel.
Company-wide holiday break from Christmas Eve to New Year's Day, alongside PTO and paid holidays.
Additional US perks including a 401(k), commuter benefits, and an Equinox membership.
Unlimited access tokens for developer and AI tools such as ChatGPT, Claude Code, and Cursor.

About the Company

HUD builds reliable, fair, and open infrastructure for AI data to ensure information remains valuable for creators and trustworthy for labs training models. Backed by $16M from top venture capitalists and Y Combinator, the growing team of approximately 25 people includes international Olympiad medalists, serial AI startup founders, and published researchers.

How to Apply

Interested candidates should apply on the official company careers page.

Skills and tech stack

ChatGPTClaude CodeCursorReinforcement LearningMachine Learning

Questions candidates ask

What is the location flexibility for this role?

The position is based out of offices in San Francisco or Singapore, but remote candidates are welcome provided their working hours have a 70-80% overlap with either San Francisco or Singapore time zones.

Is visa sponsorship available?

Yes, HUD offers support for relocation and visas for strong full-time candidates moving to the US or Singapore.

What does the interview process look like?

The interview process consists of two technical interviews followed by a 2 to 3 day work trial.

What is the salary range for the Senior Research Manager position?

Base salaries range from $120,000 to $295,000 depending on location and experience, with San Francisco offering $200,000 to $295,000, Singapore offering $150,000 to $225,000, and the rest of the world ranging from $120,000 to $225,000.

What benefits are included for US employees?

US employees receive 100% covered medical, dental, and vision insurance, a 401(k), commuter benefits, an Equinox membership, daily office meals, and holiday breaks.

Ready to apply?

The application is on the official hud careers page.

Apply on company site