Member of Technical Staff, Head of Quality
- Compensation
- $180K–$280K base
- Work mode
- Hybrid/On-site
- Location
- San Francisco, CA
- Industry
- AI Research · Machine Learning · Reinforcement Learning
- Posted
- 12 Oct 2026
Your market value for this role
Compared with 4 live mandates (same function, level and region).
Base salary only; excludes equity and bonus. Benchmark your own package →
The mandate
Own the quality bar for AI training environments and datasets at an applied research organization. Combine hands-on data review with automated evaluation systems, measurable acceptance criteria, and team leadership to ensure delivered environments generate reliable training signal.
Key responsibilities
- Review and analyze human-generated data and environment outputs, spending significant time on hands-on quality assessment.
- Build automated evaluation, QA agents, and grading systems to detect reward hacking, broken verifiers, and distribution mismatches.
- Define measurable quality metrics and acceptance criteria for environments, tasks, verifiers, rewards, and datasets.
- Own delivery acceptance for work serving advanced AI research teams, cloud providers, and enterprise customers.
- Hire, onboard, and manage QA engineers and reviewers as the function grows.
What you bring
- 1–5 years of experience in LLM evaluation engineering, QA engineering, or a closely related technical role.
- Strong understanding of machine learning, reinforcement learning, LLMs, data quality, and evaluation frameworks.
- Ability to investigate data quality issues and translate them into reliable automated checks.
- Comfort with hands-on review as well as building systems and leading a growing team.
- Must work onsite in San Francisco; visa transfers are considered.
Location & engagement details
San Francisco, CA · On-site
Full-time, five days onsite in San Francisco. Base salary $180K–$280K plus equity; higher compensation may be available for exceptional candidates. Interview stages include an introductory call, technical interview, and optional onsite or multi-day take-home exercise.
About this mandate
This is a live head of function mandate I refer executives to directly. The role sits in ai research · machine learning · reinforcement learning and is located in San Francisco, CA on a hybrid/on-site basis, with compensation of $180K–$280K base.
This is a confidential search. Read the brief above, then apply below for this role. The company name is shared once there's a close match and mutual interest.
Most senior mandates are filled this way — privately, before any listing exists. Read how unadvertised executive roles actually get filled.
- This is a confidential search. The company name and full role details are only discussed on a call with one of our recruiters if there is a close match.
- We use your details — your LinkedIn profile URL and email address — to match you against this mandate and any other closely matched roles.
- A verifiable email address, LinkedIn profile and a recent PDF resume are required. Submissions from bots, spammers or unverifiable profiles are removed.
- There is no call booking at this stage. Calls are scheduled only after we identify a close match.
Who I consider
- C-suite, EVP/SVP, VP and Head of function leaders
- Proven scale-up, venture-backed or enterprise leadership experience
- Track record of building and leading teams in the relevant function
Final hiring decisions rest solely with the hiring company. Outcomes depend on role availability and decisions made by the hiring team.
Apply — Member of Technical Staff, Head of Quality
This application is for this role only. I review it against the brief above and contact you if there's a close match.
- This is a confidential search. The company name and full role details are only discussed on a call with one of our recruiters if there is a close match.
- We use your details — your LinkedIn profile URL and email address — to match you against this mandate and any other closely matched roles.
- Handled confidentially — your details are never shared without your consent.
- A referral is an introduction, not a guarantee of an interview or an offer.
- Final hiring decisions rest with the hiring company; outcomes depend on role availability and their decisions.