About the role
At Outset, a company revolutionizing user research with AI-powered interviews, the Research Scientist role is part of the Digital Twins Team. This team focuses on creating AI systems that simulate real human responses for research purposes, aiming to improve the accuracy and reliability of these digital representations. The company serves major enterprises and is rapidly growing, backed by significant venture funding and industry adoption.
The Research Scientist will collaborate closely with the Head Scientist to design and conduct studies comparing AI-generated responses with human data. Responsibilities include developing performance metrics, applying advanced statistical methods, overseeing human rating studies, and contributing to research on new modeling techniques. The role demands expertise in computational social science, experiment design, and data analysis, with a focus on both qualitative and quantitative evaluation methods.
Candidates should hold or be near completion of a PhD in relevant social science or computational fields, with a strong publication record and proficiency in statistical methodologies and machine learning concepts. Familiarity with large-scale data analysis, software tools, and coding review is essential. Preferred experience includes fine-tuning language models, panel data collection, and presenting research in academic or industry settings. The position is hybrid-based in San Francisco, offering a collaborative environment within a fast-paced startup.