Research Engineer, AI Services

About the Role

Prolific is building the human data infrastructure that's reshaping the landscape of AI development. In a world where foundational AI technologies are increasingly commoditized, it's the quality and diversity of human-generated data that truly differentiates products and models. We are seeking an AI Research Engineer to serve as Prolific's technical research partner to AI labs and enterprise customers. You'll work directly with customers on AI evaluation and data collection projects - advising on methodology, designing frameworks, and delivering research engagements end-to-end as part of our services team. You'll contribute to how organizations approach evaluation, alignment, and human data challenges while shaping Prolific's own capabilities. Your work will directly impact how we understand, evaluate, and improve AI systems through high-quality human data.

What You’ll Be Doing

Customer Projects

• Serve as Prolific's technical research partner on customer engagements with AI labs and enterprise AI teams
• Advise and prototype bespoke solutions like evaluation methodology, rubric design, data collection approaches, quality frameworks, verifiers and validation frameworks, as well as RL environments
• Own methodology for projects - from scoping through delivery - working alongside our services team
• Build trusted relationships with customer research and engineering teams

Internal Partnership

• Surface patterns from customer work that should become platform capabilities, partnering with Product and Engineering to shape roadmap priorities
• Work with Services and Account teams to qualify opportunities and shape proposals
• Share learnings across the Research Engineering function to strengthen our collective expertise
• Contribute to Prolific's research publications and external collaborations as opportunities arise

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Collaborate with product teams to translate research insights into practical applications
• Mentor team members on advanced AI concepts and emerging research
• Communicate complex technical concepts to diverse stakeholders

What You’ll Bring

• 3+ years of experience in AI/ML research, research engineering, or applied ML
• Strong knowledge of LLM evaluation methodologies, data collection design, and human feedback approaches
• Experience designing AI-assisted or model-in-the-loop workflows - you think creatively about where AI can augment human judgment
• Track record of executing research or applied AI/ML projects with clear outcomes
• Can build quickly when needed - you're comfortable prototyping solutions and build your own tooling
• Strong communicator across contexts - you can hold your own with AI lab researchers, translate methodology into actionable recommendations for customers, and bring internal teams along on what matters and why. Prior customer-facing or consulting experience is a plus but not required.
• Based in US, Canada, or Mexico (or able to work US timezone hours)

Why Prolific is a great place to work

We've built a unique platform that connects researchers and companies with a global pool of participants, enabling the collection of high-quality, ethically sourced human behavioral data and feedback. This data is the cornerstone of developing more accurate, nuanced, and aligned AI systems. We believe that the next leap in AI capabilities won't come solely from scaling existing models but from integrating diverse human perspectives and behaviors into AI development. By providing this crucial human data infrastructure, Prolific is positioning itself at the forefront of the next wave of AI innovation—one that reflects the breadth and the best of humanity.