Research Scientist
Surge AI
Remote (US) · Posted July 13, 2026
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Pay compared with the market
This listing does not state pay. Across 73 open research scientist listings that state pay, the middle half runs $168,000 to $310,000 and the median is $240,000.
Listed pay is what employers advertise, not what people are paid.
How AI is used in this kind of work
AI use among medical scientists, except epidemiologists is little observed so far. Measured exposure for medical scientists, except epidemiologists: 4% (little observed).
Share of this job’s tasks that AI is already used for at work, from real usage. It is not a forecast of job loss, and a low number means no use seen yet. Source: Anthropic Economic Index.
About the job
ABOUT US
Our mission is to raise AGI with the richness of human intelligence — curious, witty, imaginative, and full of unexpected brilliance.
Surge was founded by engineers and researchers who dreamed of building the next generation of AI. Our platform powers the most capable models in the world, in partnership with the AI models you use every day.
At Surge, we believe the path to AGI isn't just about scaling compute—it's about embracing the unlimited ceiling of human intelligence and creativity in the data that shapes these systems. Our platform combines elite human expertise with cutting-edge tools for scalable oversight, from building rich RL environments to conducting rigorous evaluations that go beyond benchmarks. We've run a profitable business from day one without raising venture funding.
THE ROLE
As a Research Scientist focused on data, you’ll work at the cutting edge of LLM development by designing the datasets that shape how frontier models behave. You’ll partner directly with AI research teams to experiment with new data collection strategies, evaluate dataset quality, and uncover insights that improve alignment, safety, and model performance.
This is a research-driven, impact-heavy role: you’ll have the opportunity to test ideas quickly in live production environments, shape data-centric methodologies for some of the world’s top AI labs, and help define how high-quality data fuels the next generation of AI systems.
WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR
- Deep Curiosity About Data – Obsession with understanding how the structure, quality, and selection of data influence LLM performance
- Bias Toward Insight and Iteration – You think critically but move fast, designing lightweight experiments to generate actionable results
- Desire to Shape AI Development – Drive to build the foundational data layer that defines how the next generation of AI systems behave
WHAT YOU'LL DO
- Research data collection strategies and designing high-impact data slices that uncover model failure modes
- Model annotator behavior and designing experiments to optimize instruction clarity and reward signal reliability
- Develop metrics and frameworks for evaluating dataset quality, diversity, and impact on downstream model alignment