---
title: 'Visual Data Curation Specialist at Cantina'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/visual-data-curation-specialist-cantina-singapore-r2r8dqe5es41'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-10-31'
---

# Visual Data Curation Specialist at Cantina

- **Company:** Cantina
- **Location:** Singapore
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** hybrid
- **Posted:** 2026-10-22
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-10-31
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/cantina/3dfcb55d-dec9-482f-ae03-e4a264606761

## Job description

## About Cantina

Cantina Labs develops social AI technologies, including real-time models that enable expressive, lifelike characters. Our work connects advances in video generation and multimodal AI with new ways for people to create, communicate and interact. These capabilities underpin our flagship platform, Cantina, and the broader experiences we are building.

## About the Role

We’re looking for a Visual Data Curation Specialist to join our growing research team in Singapore. You will identify and evaluate image and video sources that support the development of our video generation and multimodal models. This role combines visual expertise, research and analytical judgment. You’ll work closely with researchers and engineers to understand data requirements, translate them into sourcing priorities, and develop a systematic approach to assessing content quality and relevance. You’ll own sourcing and curation projects from initial discovery through review and refinement, helping the team make better decisions about the visual data used in model development.

## What You’ll Do

- Identify and evaluate image and video sources across creator communities, specialist websites, archives and platforms such as YouTube, TikTok, Bilibili, Instagram and Vimeo.
- Partner with researchers to translate model development priorities into clear sourcing briefs, selection criteria and content categories.
- Assess content across aesthetics, technical quality and research relevance, considering factors such as composition, lighting, resolution, camera movement, subject motion and visual consistency.
- Build and maintain a structured source catalogue with representative examples, relevant metadata, quality assessments and clear recommendations.
- Identify gaps in coverage across subjects, styles, environments and types of motion, and propose targeted sourcing approaches to address them.
- Review sample content with research and engineering colleagues, incorporate feedback and refine selection criteria as requirements evolve.
- Document source provenance and available usage information, flagging ownership, licensing or access questions for review.
- Develop repeatable curation workflows, tagging systems and quality guidelines, and identify tools that improve the efficiency and consistency of the work.

## What You’ll Bring

- Strong visual judgment and the ability to explain how an image or video meets creative, technical, or research requirements.
- A background in film, photography, animation, design, visual arts, media, or a related field, demonstrated through education, professional experience, or a portfolio. Prior experience in machine learning is not required.
- Strong research skills, including the ability to investigate unfamiliar topics, assess sources, and turn findings into useful recommendations.
- A systematic approach to organizing information and confidence using spreadsheets, databases, or digital asset management tools.
- Clear communication, with the ability to translate visual observations into precise feedback for technical colleagues.
- The ability to work independently, clarify open-ended requirements, prioritize tasks, and take ownership of work quality.
- Curiosity about generative AI and the ability to learn new tools and workflows quickly. Prior machine learning experience is not required.

## Nice to Have

- Hands-on experience in photography, filmmaking, video editing, animation, or other visual production.
- Experience in content research, editorial curation, digital asset management, or archive research, including knowledge of visual content communities across platforms and cultures.
- Familiarity with dataset curation, annotation, quality assurance, or model evaluation.
- Experience with generative image or video tools, basic scripting, SQL, or workflow automation.

## Benefits We Offer

- Competitive salary and generous company equity
- Personal time off and paid holidays
- Health insurance
- Global travel insurance: Covers you when traveling internationally
- Monthly spending stipend: $500 (~S$635)
- Equipment: All equipment needed for your home office

## About Cantina

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Cantina is a social AI platform that lets users create, chat with, and share AI characters that talk, perform, and interact in real-time.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Seed Stage)
- **Headquarters**: San Francisco, California, United States
- **Founded**: 2023
- **Founders**: Not publicly listed; key leadership includes Co-Founder Prakash Ramakrishna

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Social AI / Social Media / Software Development
- **Target customers**: B2C (consumers), with a creator/developer ecosystem for building AI characters
- **Mission or purpose**: "Infinite Creativity Unlocked" — bringing AI characters to life to transform how people tell stories, connect, and create.

## Products & Services
- **Cantina App**: A social media platform where users chat with friends and AI, create video messages, share with friends, and "set bots free." The flagship product is a mobile-first experience focused on real-time AI character interaction.
- **Cantina AI Models**: A suite of advanced real-time models pushing the boundaries of expression, personality, and realism for AI characters.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not disclosed (private company)
- **Key Metric**: Total Funding — Seed Round (1 investor, amount undisclosed); 148 employees as of mid-2026
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: 1 seed investor (name not publicly disclosed); member of the Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI)
- **Growth Signals**:
  - Headcount grew 7.2% YoY (+29 people) to 148 employees
  - Monthly website traffic growth of +47.7% and yearly growth of +149.8%
  - Active job postings: 13 (yearly job posting growth of +44.4%)
  - Operates in 15 countries with 4 offices (San Francisco HQ, Sunnyvale, Brooklyn NY, and another Brooklyn location)
  - High LinkedIn follower growth (+9.9% yearly) reaching 22,462 followers

## Competitive Advantages
- **Real-time AI character technology**: Builds proprietary real-time models for expression, personality, and realism — a technical moat in the rapidly growing social AI space.
- **Creator ecosystem**: Allows users to build and release their own AI characters, creating a network effect and UGC flywheel.
- **First-mover in social AI**: One of the earliest platforms combining social networking with generative AI characters for mass consumer use.
- **Strong talent pool**: Employees recruited from top tech companies including Airtime (18), Aircore (26), Meta (4), Grammarly (4), TikTok (4), Amazon (3), and BeReal (4).

## Strategic Focus
- **Product expansion**: Actively hiring for Kotlin Multiplatform Engineer, iOS Engineer, Machine Learning Engineer (Images), and Media Software Engineer (Speech) — indicating a push toward cross-platform mobile, image generation, and speech capabilities.
- **Safety and trust**: Joined the Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI) in 2025 and invested heavily in trust & safety infrastructure, signaling a commitment to responsible AI.
- **Monetization and growth**: Hiring a Head of Product Marketing, Creator Partner Manager, and Product Managers for Video and Web — suggesting moves toward monetization, creator partnerships, and web-based experiences.
- **Research-driven**: Actively recruiting ML engineers and research talent, with 10% of workforce in Research roles.

## Why Work Here
- **Cutting-edge AI work**: Engineers work on real-time AI models for speech, images, and character interaction — at the intersection of generative AI and social media.
- **Strong technical culture**: 66 employees (15% of workforce) in Technical roles, with a tech stack including PyTorch, TensorFlow, Kubernetes, Docker, GCP, Snowflake, and modern mobile frameworks (Kotlin, Jetpack Compose, Swift).
- **Growth stage**: At 148 employees and 13 open roles, this is a growth-stage startup where new hires can have outsized impact.
- **Flexible locations**: Offices in San Francisco (HQ), Sunnyvale, and Brooklyn (two locations) — with a distributed workforce across 15 countries.
- **Creative, fun environment**: Company culture emphasizes creativity ("Minister of Bots" is a real title) and viral social experiences.
- **Notable perks**: Team has a dedicated Comedy Director and "Chief Horse Officer" — indicating a playful, unconventional culture.
- **High talent density**: Recruits from top AI and social media companies (Meta, TikTok, Grammarly, Amazon, Apple, Netflix alumni).

## Sources
1. [cantina.com](https://cantina.com/)
2. [LinkedIn - Cantina Labs](https://www.linkedin.com/company/cantinaai)
3. [Cantina Careers (Ashby)](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/cantina)
4. [Cantina Careers Page](https://cantina.com/careers)

## Other roles at Cantina

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- [X/Social Writing Specialist](https://feeny.ai/job/x-social-writing-specialist-cantina-los-angeles-jgvar9nt92tg) — Los Angeles, CA
- [Creative Director](https://feeny.ai/job/creative-director-cantina-los-angeles-64xs4caw4ae7) — Los Angeles, CA
- [Video Content Strategist and Editor](https://feeny.ai/job/video-content-strategist-and-editor-cantina-los-angeles-tqzb1rzkpmq1) — Los Angeles, CA
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- [Sr. Visual Designer](https://feeny.ai/job/sr-visual-designer-cantina-los-angeles-qq3w7vatxahd) — Los Angeles, CA
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