Goodfire
Technology
ResearchScientist
Neural analysis suggests this role is
optimal for Mid+ candidates.
“Research Scientist at Goodfire. Skills: AI research, Model interpretability, Machine learning. Conduct original research. Prototype techniques”
Industry & Context.
Debugging AI systems; Shaping AI models
What They're Looking For.
Must Have
PhD or equivalent experience, ML, computer science, or quantitative science, Deep familiarity with large models, Passion for understanding how models work, Fluency in Python, Writing skills, Communication skills, Drive to move quickly, Take ownership
Nice to Have
Experience leading research, Contributing to open-source codebases, Familiarity with interpretability, Familiarity with alignment, Familiarity with safe model development, Experience in startup environments, Experience in fast-paced lab environments
What You'll Do.
Conduct original research
Visualize internal model structures
Manipulate internal model structures
Collaborate with engineering
Turn research into tools
Share work through publications
Share work through demos
Share work through open-source contributions
Define research direction
Evolve research direction
How You'll Work.
Team & Collaboration
Small mission-driven team; Scientists and engineers
Communication Scope
Explaining complex ideas
Full Job Description
About Goodfire Goodfire is a research company using interpretability to understand, learn from, and design AI systems. Our mission is to build the next generation of safe and powerful AI—not by scaling alone, but by understanding the intelligence we're building. Scaling has proven powerful, but today's approach is fundamentally limited: we can't meaningfully understand, debug, or shape what models learn. Every engineering discipline has been gated by fundamental science and AI is at that inflection point now. We're advancing the science of how AI systems actually work. Treating models as black boxes is an unnecessary handicap—we have access to the structures inside them, and understanding those structures lets us steer what models learn, make them safer and more useful, and extract the vast knowledge they contain. Our goal is to make AI that can be understood, debugged, and shaped like software. Goodfire is a public benefit corporation headquartered in San Francisco with a team of the world’s top interpretability researchers and engineers from organizations like OpenAI and DeepMind. We're backed by over $200M from B Capital, Menlo Ventures, Lightspeed, Eric Schmidt, and others. About the role We’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. Where you might contribute: Interpretability mechanisms – Foundational research on how models represent and process information. Moonshots – High-upside bets on novel techniques that could unlock breakthroughs in model understanding. Applied research & usability – Translating research into tools for real-world users and enterprise applications. We’ll determine your pod placement during the interview process based on your background and interests. Key responsibilities: Conduct original researc
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