Job Overview
Location
Remote
Job Type
Full-time
Category
Data Scientist
Date Posted
February 12, 2026
Full Job Description
đź“‹ Description
- • As a Model Behavior Architect at Perplexity, you will be at the forefront of shaping the intelligence and reliability of our revolutionary answer engine. This is a unique opportunity to bridge the gap between cutting-edge AI research and tangible product outcomes, working collaboratively with our brilliant research, design, and engineering teams. Your primary mission will be to ensure that our models not only understand and process information but also behave in ways that are precisely aligned with our product goals, user expectations, and ethical considerations. You will be instrumental in defining what it means for Perplexity's AI to be helpful, honest, and harmless, translating complex theoretical concepts into practical, scalable solutions.
- • Your core responsibilities will revolve around the meticulous design, refinement, and implementation of context engineering strategies. This involves crafting the precise prompts, instructions, and contextual information that guide our large language models (LLMs) to produce accurate, relevant, and safe outputs across a diverse range of use cases. You will delve deep into understanding how different contextual inputs influence model behavior, iterating on these strategies to optimize for clarity, coherence, and desired tone.
- • A critical aspect of this role is the identification and remediation of inconsistencies in model outputs. You will design and execute rigorous research and evaluation projects to uncover subtle biases, factual inaccuracies, or undesirable behaviors. These projects will span both internal development systems, allowing for rapid iteration and experimentation, and production-facing systems, ensuring the highest quality user experience. This will involve developing sophisticated methodologies for assessing model performance against predefined benchmarks and qualitative criteria.
- • To facilitate this continuous improvement, you will develop and maintain automated and semi-automated pipelines for evaluating agent effectiveness at scale. This requires a blend of analytical thinking and technical proficiency, enabling you to build robust systems that can efficiently test and monitor model performance across vast datasets and numerous interaction scenarios. You will be responsible for ensuring these evaluation frameworks are comprehensive, efficient, and provide actionable insights.
- • Staying at the cutting edge of AI alignment and evaluation is paramount. You will be expected to maintain a deep and current understanding of the latest advancements in techniques for controlling and assessing LLM behavior, drawing from both academic research and industry best practices. This includes exploring novel approaches to reinforcement learning from human feedback (RLHF), constitutional AI, red-teaming, and other state-of-the-art alignment methodologies.
- • You will play a key role in defining the 'personality' and operational guardrails of our AI, ensuring it acts as a trustworthy and reliable assistant for our users. This involves a deep understanding of user needs and how model behavior impacts the overall product experience. Your work will directly influence user trust and satisfaction, making this a highly impactful position within the company.
- • This role demands a proactive and inquisitive mindset. You will be encouraged to experiment, to challenge assumptions, and to find creative solutions to complex problems. The ability to think critically about AI systems, their potential pitfalls, and their opportunities for improvement will be essential. You will contribute to a culture of continuous learning and innovation, pushing the boundaries of what's possible with AI-driven information access.
- • Collaboration is key. You will work closely with researchers to translate their findings into practical applications, with designers to ensure the AI's behavior aligns with the user interface and experience, and with engineers to implement and scale these solutions. Your ability to communicate complex technical concepts clearly and effectively to diverse audiences will be crucial for success.
- • Ultimately, you will be a guardian of Perplexity's AI integrity, ensuring that as our answer engine grows in capability, it remains aligned with our core values and mission to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful, in a responsible and ethical manner.
🎯 Requirements
- • Demonstrated passion for AI, with the ability to share specific, related projects you are proud of.
- • Proficiency in Python for scripting, data analysis, and prototyping.
- • High-level understanding of Large Language Models (LLMs), including concepts related to their training, fine-tuning, and reinforcement learning (RL).
- • Experience or strong conceptual understanding of AI alignment and evaluation techniques.
- • Excellent communication skills, with a proven ability to explain complex technical concepts clearly and concisely to both technical and non-technical audiences.
- • Creative problem-solving abilities and a proactive, 'hacker spirit' approach to tackling challenges.
🏖️ Benefits
- • Competitive salary and equity package.
- • Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance.
- • Generous paid time off and holidays.
- • Remote work flexibility.
- • Opportunity to work on a cutting-edge AI product with a significant impact.
Skills & Technologies
Python
Go
Senior
Remote
About Perplexity AI, Inc.
Perplexity AI operates an AI-powered conversational search engine that answers queries by synthesizing live web information. The platform combines large language models with real-time retrieval, citing sources for transparency. Founded in 2022, the San Francisco-based company offers free and subscription tiers, mobile apps, and browser extensions, targeting consumers and enterprises seeking accurate, verifiable answers instead of traditional link lists.
