Audio AI Research Engineer
Company: David AI
Location: San Francisco
Posted on: April 1, 2026
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Job Description:
About David AI David AI is the first audio data research
company. We bring an R&D approach to data–developing datasets
with the same rigor AI labs bring to models. Our mission is to
bring AI into the real world, and we believe audio is the gateway.
Speech is versatile, accessible, and human—it fits naturally into
everyday life. As audio AI advances and new use cases emerge,
high-quality training data is the bottleneck. This is where David
AI comes in. David AI was founded in 2024 by a team of former Scale
AI engineers and operators. In less than a year, we’ve brought on
most FAANG companies and AI labs as customers. We recently raised a
$50M Series B from Meritech, NVIDIA, Jack Altman (Alt Capital),
Amplify Partners, First Round Capital and other Tier 1 investors.
Our team is sharp, humble, ambitious, and tight-knit. We’re looking
for the best research, engineering, product, and operations minds
to join us on our mission to push the frontier of audio AI. About
our Research team As an audio data research company, we believe
model capabilities come from high quality, differentiated data.
David AI’s research team performs ambitious, long-term research
into audio capabilities, while working with internal and external
stakeholders to productionalize the latest research insights. About
this role As a Founding Audio AI Research Engineer , you'll define
the research agenda that shapes how the world's best AI labs train
their audio models. You’ll have a world-class workforce of human AI
trainers, compute resources, and independence to drive your
roadmap. In this role, you will Define and build comprehensive
evaluation frameworks for audio AI capabilities across speech,
emotion, conversation dynamics, and acoustic patterns. Research and
prototype novel approaches to audio quality assessment, automated
labeling, and data collection optimization. Design targeted data
collection pipelines for novel, high-value audio capabilities
Architect automated systems for continuous classifier improvement
and prompt engineering evaluation. Evaluate frontier models and
create actionable research directions. Publish findings and papers
in top conferences. Your background looks like 3 years of
experience in AI/ML research or engineering, preferably with
multimodal models Proven ability to translate research insights
into production systems and scalable solutions. Experience with
Python and PyTorchExperience designing and conducting rigorous ML
experiments and evaluations. Bonus points if you have PhD or
Masters in Computer Science or a related field with a focus on ML
or audio/speech. Published research work in top-tier CS, AI and/or
audio-related conferences. Strong record of publication in
evaluations or data, particularly for audio/speech. Experience in
large scale data processing or high performance computing. Benefits
Unlimited PTO. Top-notch health, dental, and vision coverage with
100% coverage for most plans. FSA & HSA access. 401k access. Meals
2x daily through DoorDash snacks and beverages available at the
office. Unlimited company-sponsored Barry’s classes.
Keywords: David AI, Salinas , Audio AI Research Engineer, IT / Software / Systems , San Francisco, California
