VP, Research

Scale AI•San Francisco, CA

15h•$453,600 - $567,000•Remote

About The Position

As the leading data and evaluation partner for frontier AI companies, Scale is dedicated to advancing the progress of generative AI, with a focus around frontier evaluations, the science of data around posttraining, agentic applications, trustworthy agents oversight framework and beyond. Our Research teams work with the industry’s leading AI labs to provide high quality data and accelerate progress in GenAI research. Additionally, Scale plays an integral role in understanding the capabilities and safeguarding of LLMs. Scale Labs is Scale's frontier research effort dedicated to tackling the challenging research problems in evaluation, agents, post-training, reasoning, safety and alignment of advanced AI systems. The SPRL team is a new effort focused on safety and policy research to bridge the gap between AI research and global policymakers to make informed, scientific decisions about AI risks and capabilities. We’re looking for a VP of Research to lead this charge. This is a critical leadership role where you will blend cutting-edge research with real-world applied ML impact and build a world-class research organization that expands that capabilities of frontier AI systems and develops safeguards to deploy them responsibly. You will shape the technical direction of Scale’s ML research, translate science into production-ready solutions, and partner with go-to-market, delivery, engineering, and customers to ensure our work defines the next era of AI. You’ll lead with vision and clarity, execute with urgency, and grow with intention.

Requirements

Has a strong track record of leading ML Research teams in high-growth environments, ideally in ML, infrastructure, or complex systems
Has scaled research organizations across geographies and understands how to structure and evolve teams effectively
Operates with urgency and clarity—able to distill priorities and move teams from ambiguity to execution
Has experience partnering deeply with sales, delivery, and customer success teams
Is equally comfortable in the weeds and at the executive level; knows when to lead from the front and when to empower others
Brings credibility and curiosity in core technical areas—especially product engineering, infrastructure, or AI agent systems

Responsibilities

Lead the ML Research function, responsible for delivery, quality, performance, and roadmap execution
Build and scale a global high-performing team, with an emphasis on initiative ownership and ML excellence
Partner directly with Fortune 100 customers and the GTM team to translate business needs into scalable technical solutions
Collaborate with engineering, product, and delivery teams across Scale to drive cutting edge research
Shape the long-term vision and org design of the ML Research team, aligned with business growth and product evolution
Manage and mentor senior ML Research leaders and instill a culture of accountability, speed, and results
Make rigorous tradeoffs across technical and business dimensions, backed by financial insight and operational understanding
Represent ML Research in cross-functional planning cycles, including headcount, budget, and strategic initiatives