{"id":98951,"url":"https://alion.io/job/goodfire-research-scientist","title":"Research Scientist","company":{"id":38138,"name":"Goodfire","domain":"goodfire.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/goodfire","size_band":"201-500","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Greenhouse","truth_index":{"grade":"C","score":57,"open_postings":25,"ghost_share":0.72,"stale_share":0,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":null,"computed_at":"2026-10-20T05:45:00Z"}},"role":"AI/ML","role_family":"AI/ML","seniority":null,"employment_type":null,"work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["San Francisco, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":{"min":200000,"max":400000,"currency":"USD","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":400000},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":null,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"Interpretability","optional":false},{"name":"OpenAI","optional":false},{"name":"Python","optional":false},{"name":"PyTorch","optional":false}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2025-06-02T19:51:22Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-06-09","last_verified_at":"2026-10-20T04:06:16Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":504,"trust":{"level":"ghost","repost_count":0,"flags":["stale","company_stale"],"days_open":504},"description":"About Goodfire\nGoodfire is an AI interpretability research lab. We build interpretability agents and infrastructure to understand, monitor, and align AI models.\nWe believe that AI is the most consequential technology of our time. Yet AI models are trained by trial and error today, with limited understanding of what drives their behavior. Our goal is to advance the research and technology needed to fully understand and align AI so humanity can trust superintelligence.\nGoodfire is a public benefit corporation founded by researchers who helped pioneer the field of interpretability at OpenAI and Google DeepMind. We are headquartered in San Francisco and have raised over $200M from leading investors including Lightspeed, Menlo, and B Capital.\nAbout the role\nWe’re looking for a Research Scientist to join our team and develop new techniques for understanding and steering large AI models. You’ll work closely with a small, mission-driven team of scientists and engineers to conduct novel research, build practical tools, and push the field forward.\nWhere you might contribute:\nInterpretability mechanisms - Foundational research on how models represent and process information.\nMoonshots - High-upside bets on novel techniques that could unlock breakthroughs in model understanding.\nApplied research & usability - Translating research into tools for real-world users and enterprise applications.\nWe’ll determine your pod placement during the interview process based on your background and interests.\nKey responsibilities:\nConduct original research in interpretability and related fields.\nPrototype techniques to visualize and manipulate internal model structures.\nCollaborate with engineering to turn research into production-ready tools.\nShare your work through publications, demos, and open-source contributions.\nHelp define and evolve our research direction.\nWhat you’ll bring\nRequired experience\nPhD or equivalent experience in ML, computer science, or a quantitative science.\nDeep familiarity with large models and a passion for understanding how they work.\nFluency in Python and ML frameworks such as PyTorch.\nStrong writing and communication skills for explaining complex ideas.\nDrive to move quickly and take ownership.\nPreferred qualifications\nExperience leading research or contributing to open-source codebases.\nFamiliarity with interpretability, alignment, or safe model development.\nExperience in startup or fast-paced lab environments.\nOur values\nGoodfire is looking for individuals who embody our values and share our deep commitment to making interpretability accessible. We are building a team first and foremost.\nPut mission and team first\nAll we do is in service of our mission. We trust each other, deeply care about the success of the organization, and choose to put our team above ourselves.\nImprove constantly\nWe are constantly looking to improve every piece of the business. We proactively critique ourselves and others in a kind and thoughtful way that translates to practical improvements in the organization. We are pragmatic and consistently implement the obvious fixes that work.\nTake ownership and initiative\nThere are no bystanders here. We proactively identify problems and take full responsibility over getting a strong result. We are self-driven, own our mistakes, and feel deep responsibility over what we’re building.\nAction today\nWe have a small amount of time to do something incredibly hard and meaningful. The pace and intensity of the organization is high. If we can take action today or tomorrow, we will choose to do it today.\nWhere we work\nWe are hiring for this position in our San Francisco HQ. We are in person 5 days a week, with one company-wide remote week per month.\nWhat we offer\nThis role offers market competitive salary, equity, and competitive benefits.\nThe expected salary range for this position is $200,000 - $400,000 USD\nMost importantly, you'll have the opportunity to join a vital mission at an important point in its trajectory - we are developing groundbreaking technology with a world-class team on the critical path to ensuring a safe and beneficial future for humanity. If you want to do your life’s work with us, even if you believe you do not meet every single requirement, apply now.","description_format":"text","description_chars":4258,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":null,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"phd","optional":false},"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":["Equity"],"hiring_locations":[],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Explainable AI (XAI)","AI Safety & Alignment","AI Research Labs"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2025-06-02T19:51:22Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":3,"band":"cold","label":"Long shot","p_open":1,"p_active":0.095,"p_room":0.28,"age_days":504,"expected_fill_days":27,"reasons":["conf:1","stale_co","ghost","win:tail","crowd:"],"computed_at":"2026-10-20T05:45:00Z"},"pay":{"stated_usd_annual":400000,"is_top_pay":true},"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/goodfire-research-scientist","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/goodfire-research-scientist.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-20T06:57:42Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":7637,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-21T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":38138},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=38138"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fgoodfire-research-scientist"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fgoodfire-research-scientist"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fgoodfire-research-scientist"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/goodfire-research-scientist\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fgoodfire-research-scientist"}]}