Research Engineer, QC Automation

Clera

$150K — $250K *
Technical Services
Less than 5 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 2-4 years of experience in engineering or research roles, particularly in QC automation or data quality.
  • Proficiency in Python, Docker, and Linux environments.
  • Experience in building scalable data validation pipelines and QA/QC systems without strict guidance.
  • Involvement in RL training data benchmarks, including task definition and reliable evaluation metrics.
  • Ability to design QC systems based on human judgment rather than relying on LLMs.
  • Proficient in designing experiments and grading metrics for agent outputs, with a focus on actionable feedback from vendors.
  • Strong statistical knowledge and experience in developing QA/QC processes and metrics.

Responsibilities

  • Automate quality control for training data generated by companies using the infrastructure.
  • Develop QC systems that prioritize human understanding over reliance on LLMs.
  • Set and enforce quality standards for AI training data throughout the entire process.
  • Design experiments and metrics to evaluate agent performance across various tasks.
  • Collaborate with data vendors to troubleshoot quality issues and enhance their data generation methods.
  • Translate QC findings into auditing systems, including sampling strategies and validation pipelines.
  • Integrate QC insights into tools and vendor portals to minimize anomalies and edge cases.

Benefits

  • Visa sponsorship is available for qualifying candidates.
Full Job Description
About the Role

This is the top hiring priority on a ~15-person engineering team building infrastructure for reinforcement learning environments and post-training AI datasets. As a Research Engineer focused on QC Automation, you'll own the systems that ensure training data quality scales with growing demand - a critical function that sits at the intersection of engineering rigor and research judgment.
What You'll Do
  • Automate quality control for training data produced by companies using the platform's infrastructure.
  • Build QC systems grounded in genuine human understanding and judgment, rather than heavy LLM reliance.
  • Define and enforce quality standards for AI training data end-to-end.
  • Design experiments and metrics to grade agent outputs across diverse tasks.
  • Partner with data vendors to debug quality issues, diagnose agent failure modes, and improve their data generation processes.
  • Translate QC learnings into auditing systems, including sampling strategies and rule-based or model-assisted validation pipelines.
  • Continuously integrate QC insights into infrastructure tools and the vendor portal to reduce anomalies and edge cases.
What We're Looking For
  • 2-4 years of experience in engineering or research roles, ideally focused on QC automation or data quality.
  • Proficiency in Python, Docker, and Linux environments.
  • Proven experience building scalable data validation pipelines and automated QA/QC systems end-to-end without a fully prescribed roadmap.
  • Experience working on benchmarks and evaluations for RL training data - including defining realistic tasks, reliable rubrics, and useful trajectories.
  • Demonstrated ability to create QC systems based on human judgment rather than defaulting to LLM-based approaches.
  • Experience designing experiments and metrics to grade agent outputs, and partnering with data vendors to provide actionable feedback.
  • Solid knowledge of statistics and comfort designing metrics and QA/QC processes.
  • Strong written and verbal communication skills for effective cross-timezone collaboration.
  • Genuine curiosity, intellectual range, and the ability to work autonomously in fast-paced, early-stage environments.
Compensation & Benefits

Salary range: $150,000 - $250,000 USD annually. Visa sponsorship is available for qualifying candidates.
Location

On-site in San Francisco, CA for U.S.-based candidates; on-site in Singapore for Southeast Asia-based candidates. Fully remote independent contractor arrangements are also considered for candidates based elsewhere, particularly in Europe.

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