
Research Engineer, Audio Understanding at Cartesia (San Francisco, CA)
Cartesia· San Francisco, CA· $200k–$350k·
Role details
Competitive Base Salary · Equity Package · Commuter Allowance · Flexible PTO · Meals And Snacks
Summary
The Research Engineer will own the quality and coverage of global data for AI models, designing large-scale datasets and evaluating speech models across multiple languages. This role involves building automated quality control systems, guiding human annotation, and partnering with product teams to ensure inclusive d...
Job description
ABOUT CARTESIA
Our mission is to architect AI that learns from and interacts with the world like humans do.
We're pioneering the model architectures that will make this possible. Our founding team met as PhDs at the Stanford AI Lab, where we invented State Space Models or SSMs, a new primitive for training efficient, large-scale foundation models. Our team combines deep expertise in model innovation and systems engineering paired with a design-minded product engineering team to build and ship cutting edge models and experiences.
We're funded by leading investors at Index Ventures and Lightspeed Venture Partners, along with Factory, Conviction, A Star, General Catalyst, SV Angel, Databricks and others. We're fortunate to have the support of many amazing advisors, and 90+ angels across many industries, including the world's foremost experts in AI.
ABOUT THE ROLE
Data is one of the most critical inputs to frontier AI. In this role, you'll work across the full data stack - from infrastructure and web-scale data pipelines to modeling and evaluation. You'll develop a deep understanding of how data influences model performance and leverage that knowledge to advance the frontier of multimodal datasets to create new capabilities for AI.
YOUR IMPACT
- Design and build high-quality datasets for model training and run controlled modeling experiments to measure their impact on model performance and behavior.
- Engineer web-scale data pipelines and build systems to annotate and ensure data quality at scale.
- Develop techniques for post-training and synthetic data generation to improve model quality and intelligence.
WHAT YOU BRING
- Experience building or working with large multilingual datasets
- Experience with generative models (speech, text, or multimodal).
- Ability to help guide human annotation and evaluation across multiple languages.
- Strong applied ML background with a focus on data-centric approaches.
- Excitement for building scalable systems that bridge research and production.
Note: Cartesia participates in E-Verify and will provide the federal government with Form I-9 information to confirm employment eligibility after hire.
MORE DETAILS
🏢 In-office policy: We’re an in-person team based out of offices in 🇺🇸 San Francisco, 🇬🇧 London and 🇮🇳 Bangalore. We love being in the office, hanging out together, and learning from each other every day.
🌎 Visa sponsorship: We provide visa sponsorship support and assess each circumstance on a case-by-case basis. However, visa sponsorship is dependent on many factors, including the role you are applying for, and the location you are going to be based, and so we can't always guarantee success. Your Recruiter will work with you to understand your visa sponsorship needs from the first call.
🚢 We ship fast. All of our work is novel and cutting edge, and execution speed is paramount. We have a high bar, and we don’t sacrifice quality or design along the way.
🤝 We support each other. We have an open & inclusive culture that’s focused on giving everyone the resources they need to succeed.
OUR BENEFITS (US EMPLOYEES ONLY)
💰 Compensation Competitive base salary alongside attractive equity package.
🩺 Health Insurance Fully covered medical insurance along with dental and vision for you and your family.
🧑🧑🧒🧒 Parental Leave 9 weeks paternity & 12 weeks maternity leave
🏦 401(k)
🚆 Commuter Allowance A monthly stipend to help you get to and from the office.
🏖️ Flexible PTO Take as much time as you need to recharge your batteries.
🍲 Meals & Snacks Lunch, dinner and plenty of snacks, provided daily.
🦖 Your own personal Yoshi
OUR COMMITMENT TO EQUAL OPPORTUNITY
Cartesia is an equal opportunity employer. We consider qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, genetic information, or any other legally protected status.
Why work at Cartesia
- Cutting‑edge AI Research: Work alongside the original inventors of SSMs and contribute to foundational AI architecture.
- Fast‑growing Startup: 88 employees with rapid headcount growth and significant funding – offers ownership and impact.
- Values‑driven Culture: “Get the fundamentals right,” “Build to solve problems,” “Aim beyond what’s possible,” “Be honest,” “Have fun with it.”
- Remote‑flexible: Presence across 5 countries (US, UK, India, South Korea, Switzerland) suggests a distributed team with flexible working arrangements.
- Engineering‑heavy: 39% of staff in technical roles, 8% in research – strong emphasis on technical excellence.
- Notable Perks: Not explicitly listed, but a high‑caliber team (Stanford, Meta, Scale AI) and top investor backing indicate competitive compensation and a vibrant startup environment.