Director, Research - Human Data Systems

snorkelai

San Francisco, CA (Hybrid) · San Francisco

Posted Feb 9, 2026

Other
316 - Research

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Job description

About Snorkel

At Snorkel, we believe meaningful AI doesn’t start with the model, it starts with the data.

We’re on a mission to help enterprises transform expert knowledge into specialized AI at scale. The AI landscape has gone through incredible changes since 2015, when Snorkel started as a research project in the Stanford AI Lab, to the generative AI breakthroughs of today. But one thing has remained constant: the data you use to build AI is the key to achieving differentiation, high performance, and production-ready systems. We work with some of the world’s largest organizations to empower scientists, engineers, financial experts, product creators, journalists, and more to build custom AI with their data faster than ever before. Excited to help us redefine how AI is built? Apply to be the newest Snorkeler!

Snorkel AI came out of the Stanford AI lab and is built on the principle that data development is the core of AI. For years, we have pioneered data-centric methods that power the world’s most sophisticated AI implementations from top enterprises to frontier AI labs. We are looking for a Director of Research to lead a team focused on data-centric research.

About the Role

You will be responsible for developing cutting-edge human-in-the-loop systems that move beyond labeling to guiding experts on complex, multi-step tasks. From rapidly prototyping and testing methods with 1000s of users to innovating core data-centric methods, you will have the opportunity to lead how the data that powers the next generation of frontier models is created and curated.

Main Responsibilities

Team Building & Leadership: Recruit for and lead a team of applied researchers, setting the team’s culture and setting a high standard for quality and velocity
The Research-to-Product Bridge: Act as the primary link between Research, Product, and Engineering. You will oversee the development of experimental POCs to improve workflow efficiencies and ensure these innovations are successfully hardened and integrated into the platform
Strategic Roadmapping: Anticipate the next bottlenecks in the AI data (e.g., automated RLHF, agentic evaluation, or specialized model alignment) and pivot the team to develop the programmatic solutions that address them
Operational Excellence: Partner with the Operations team to validate research-driven workflows in real-world production environments, ensuring they scale across diverse and complex domain-specific tasks.

What We’re Looking For

5+ years of experience in applied AI, research or machine learning roles, with at least 4+ years of experience managing technical teams
A player coach who is willing to be hands-on with coding and research
A proven track record of thriving in fast-paced, ambiguous environments, comfortable managing competing priorities across cross-functional stakeholders
Enjoys solving real-world problems in the data space and bridging research and production
Strong, practical experience working with LLMs, agentic workflow
Bonus: Experience with data annotation workflows and/or building internal tooling for them

Actual compensation will be determined based on factors including skills, qualifications, experience, and geographic location.

Salary range(s) for this role

$300,000—$425,000 USD

Be Your Best at Snorkel

Joining Snorkel AI means becoming part of a company that has market proven solutions, robust funding, and is scaling rapidly—offering a unique combination of stability and the excitement of high growth. As a member of our team, you’ll have meaningful opportunities to shape priorities and initiatives, influence key strategic decisions, and directly impact our ongoing success. Whether you’re looking to deepen your technical expertise, explore leadership opportunities, or learn new skills across multiple functions, you’re fully supported in building your career in an environment designed for growth, learning, and shared success.

Snorkel AI is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer and is committed to building a team that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. Snorkel AI embraces diversity and provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment. Snorkel AI prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type on the basis of race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, performance, merit, and business need.

We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.