Senior Technical Recruiter - Research Science

About this role

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!

Senior Technical Recruiter - Research Science

Location: San Francisco, CA or New York, NY

As a Senior Technical Recruiter at Snorkel AI, you will play an instrumental role in identifying, sourcing, and engaging world-class, PhD-level Research Scientist talent for our growing organization. Drawing on your deep experience recruiting in fast-paced startup environments, you'll not only find and hire some of the sharpest research minds in AI/ML, but also create a candidate experience that reflects our brand and values every step of the way. Our Talent team lives our company values day to day: we put Quality First in every search and every candidate interaction, we're relentless about pushing the frontier of how great startups hire, we treat our hiring managers as true partners in solving their hardest talent challenges, we're Competitive Yet Kind — driven and high-bar, without ego or politics — and everyone on the team has the startup gene, rolling up their sleeves to do the job that needs doing . This is a chance to join a high-caliber, cross-functional team building a generational company.

Main Responsibilities

• Recruiting Strategy: Develop and execute creative, effective strategies for attracting PhD-level Research Scientist talent in a highly competitive market. Own sourcing to build and maintain a robust, consistent, and diverse pipeline of candidates, including strong representation from academia, top research labs, and PhD/postdoc programs.

• Recruiting Data: Track and analyze the metrics that matter across the recruiting funnel, using data to continuously improve speed, efficiency, and outcomes.

• Candidate Experience: Deliver a best-in-class candidate experience at every touchpoint, tailored to researchers weighing an academic path against industry. Regardless of outcome, ensure every candidate walks away with a positive impression of Snorkel.

• Stakeholder Collaboration: Partner closely with Research leadership and hiring managers, deeply understanding the specific research areas, publication expectations, and technical bar for each role, and advising on hiring strategy and decisions. Challenge their thinking and push the broader team toward better, more creative ways of attracting great research talent.

• Market Analysis: Stay closely attuned to trends in the AI/ML research talent market — compensation, publication trends, conference activity, and where top researchers are moving — to keep Snorkel competitive, and share those insights with People leadership.

• Networking & Relationship Building: Represent Snorkel at top AI/ML conferences (e.g., NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, ACL) and within the broader academic and research community, building genuine relationships with researchers, PhD candidates, and postdocs to establish a strong long-term pipeline.

• Interview Process Management: Coordinate interviews (including research talks, technical deep dives, and panel discussions) in partnership with our coordination team, deliver timely feedback, and ensure clear communication between candidates and hiring teams. Regularly assess the effectiveness of the research recruiting process and drive operational improvements.

• Onboarding and Immigration Support: Partner with People and Research teams to ensure a smooth, well-supported transition for every new hire, including visa and immigration support where applicable.

Minimum Qualifications

• 8+ years of full-cycle recruiting experience, with a strong focus on PhD-level Research Scientist or applied research roles in AI/ML, ideally within technology startups.

• Demonstrated success recruiting in high-growth, fast-paced startup environments.

• Strong familiarity with the San Francisco Bay Area academic and research talent landscape, including top university labs and research programs.

• Fluency in reading and evaluating research talent through publication history, conference presence (NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, ACL, etc.), and academic pedigree.

• Proven ability to source and attract passive candidates — including current PhD students, postdocs, and researchers at competing labs — and build diverse, high-quality pipelines.

• Proficiency with modern recruiting tools and platforms (Greenhouse, ModernLoop, and Gem preferred).

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, balancing professionalism with warmth, and comfortable speaking credibly with candidates about technical research areas.

• Skilled at building trust and credibility quickly, including the ability to coach and push back constructively on hiring managers and research leaders.

• Deep understanding of the AI/ML research landscape and the unique considerations researchers weigh when moving from academia or research labs into industry.

• Genuine passion for building and promoting a diverse and inclusive workplace.

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business, or a related field; advanced degree or technical background a plus.

• Experience recruiting for both research and applied science roles within a scaling organization.

• Existing network within the Bay Area AI/ML research community, including academic labs and PhD programs.

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