Research Scientist, Human Data & Evaluation

Who we are and what we do

Contra Labs is a human-centered AI lab focused on creative and multimodal outputs, where human taste defines the next generation of AI capabilities.

We build industry-leading creative preference datasets that power benchmarking, evaluation, and post-training for the world's leading AI models and applications. Our work helps define what "good" looks like across design, video, imagery, and beyond.

Built on top of Contra, the professional network for independent creatives, Contra Labs connects frontier AI labs with a global network of top creative talent. Together, we turn human judgment into the training and evaluation layer that enables AI models and tools to power the next generation of human creativity.

Why this role exists

Contra Labs is expanding its research work with frontier AI labs across evaluation, post-training data, benchmarking, and human-centered research.

We need a researcher who can take an ambiguous client or research question and independently turn it into a rigorous project: identify the right research direction, develop the methodology, write the proposal, run the work, analyze the results, and produce insights that shape what we or the client should do next.

This person should complement our existing project execution capacity by bringing deeper research ownership and the ability to generate net-new ideas and approaches.

What you'll own

• Research direction & proposals
  • Translate ambiguous client questions into clear research questions, hypotheses, and study designs.
  • Develop research proposals and methodologies from scratch rather than relying on a predefined approach.
  • Identify promising new research directions and push the team toward ideas we have not already considered.
  • Help define what Contra Labs should measure, study, and build next.
• Evaluation & data methodology
  • Design human-data collection strategies, evaluation protocols, rubrics, annotation schemes, and experiments.
  • Develop strong prompt strategies for eliciting, evaluating, and comparing model behavior.
  • Determine appropriate sampling, evaluator selection, calibration, quality-control, and reliability methods.
  • Design methodologies that work across creative and multimodal domains such as design, image, video, and agentic workflows.
• Analysis & insight generation
  • Analyze qualitative and quantitative evaluation data.
  • Move beyond reporting results to explain why patterns occur and what they imply.
  • Synthesize findings into clear recommendations, research narratives, and new hypotheses.
  • Produce client-ready reports, presentations, benchmarks, and research publications.
• End-to-end project ownership
  • Independently own research engagements from initial scoping through final delivery.
  • Work closely with project leads, creative experts, research engineers, and data/engineering teams.
  • Maintain a high bar for research rigor and data quality while operating on fast client timelines.
  • Potentially support multiple concurrent projects at different stages.
• Client work
  • Be comfortable working on research driven by real client problems and constraints.
  • Participate in scoping and proposal development and help establish credibility with sophisticated AI/ML research teams.
  • Direct client-facing experience is valuable, but this is not primarily an account-management role. You will collaborate with Strategic Project Leads on client delivery.

What we're looking for

• 3–5+ years of relevant research experience, with a Master’s, PhD, or equivalent industry research depth in HCI, Human-Centered AI, ML, design research, or a related field.
• Strong qualitative and quantitative research skills, with experience in human evaluation, experimentation, data collection, UX/HCI, annotation, or model behavior research.
• Proven ability to independently design and execute rigorous research, including deciding what data to collect, why, and how to analyze it.
• Ability to turn data and observations into new insights, research directions, and actionable recommendations.
• Comfortable analyzing data with Python and/or SQL.
• Strong written communication and ability to clearly explain methodological tradeoffs and research decisions.
• Comfortable operating independently through ambiguity and balancing research rigor with startup speed and pragmatism.

Bonus

• Familiarity with modern ML and generative AI systems.
• Understanding of RLHF / post-training / preference data / model evaluation.
• Experience studying image, video, multimodal, creative, or agentic systems.
• Experience designing prompts or systematically studying prompting/model behavior.
• Experience working with large-scale human-data or annotation programs.
• Experience working directly with AI research or model teams.
• Strong publication record or other evidence of consistently generating original research ideas.
• Startup / 0-to-1 experience.

Requirements

• Based in San Francisco, California

Total Comp

• Salary: $150,000 - $200,000 USD + Equity
• Medical, Dental, Vision Benefits
• 401k Matching
• We will provide you with a company laptop on your start date

Interview Process

1. Interview with Recruiting Team (20 minutes)
2. Interview with Head of Research (30 minutes)
3. Technical interview with Data Lead (30 minutes)
4. Interview with Head of Contra Labs (30 minutes)
5. Paid Case Study and Presentation (60 minutes)

Note: Contra communicates with applicants through @contra. We never ask for money from potential employees.