Research Scientist

About Goodfire

Behind our name:
Like fire, AI holds the potential for both immense benefit and significant risk. Just as mastering fire transformed human history, we believe the safe and intentional development of AI will shape the future of our species. Our goal is to tame this new fire.

Goodfire is an AI interpretability research company focused on understanding and designing AI systems that people can trust. Our mission is to advance humanity's understanding of AI to build safe and powerful AI systems. We believe that deep research breakthroughs are necessary to make this possible.

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 Deep Mind. We’ve raised $59M from investors like Menlo, Lightspeed and Anthropic and work with customers including Arc Institute, Mayo Clinic, and Rakuten.

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.

• Conduct original research in interpretability and related fields.
• Prototype techniques to visualize and manipulate internal model structures.
• Collaborate with engineering to turn research into production-ready tools.
• Share your work through publications, demos, and open-source contributions.
• Help define and evolve our research direction.

• PhD or equivalent experience in ML, computer science, or a quantitative science.
• Deep familiarity with large models and a passion for understanding how they work.
• Fluency in Python and ML frameworks such as PyTorch.
• Strong writing and communication skills for explaining complex ideas.
• Drive to move quickly and take ownership.

• Experience leading research or contributing to open-source codebases.
• Familiarity with interpretability, alignment, or safe model development.
• Experience in startup or fast-paced lab environments.

Goodfire is looking for individuals who embody our values and share our deep commitment to making interpretability accessible. We are building a team first and foremost.

Put mission and team first

All we do is in service of our mission. We trust each other, deeply care about the success of the organization, and choose to put our team above ourselves.

Improve constantly

We are constantly looking to improve every piece of the business. We proactively critique ourselves and others in a kind and thoughtful way that translates to practical improvements in the organization. We are pragmatic and consistently implement the obvious fixes that work.

Take ownership and initiative

There are no bystanders here. We proactively identify problems and take full responsibility over getting a strong result. We are self-driven, own our mistakes, and feel deep responsibility over what we’re building.

Action today

We have a small amount of time to do something incredibly hard and meaningful. The pace and intensity of the organization is high. If we can take action today or tomorrow, we will choose to do it today.

This role offers market competitive salary, equity, and competitive benefits.

The expected salary range for this position is $200,000 - $400,000 USD

Most importantly, you'll have the opportunity to join a vital mission at an important point in its trajectory — we are developing groundbreaking technology with a world-class team on the critical path to ensuring a safe and beneficial future for humanity. If you want to do your life’s work with us, even if you believe you do not meet every single requirement, apply now.