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Head of AI Research at Exa

Exa No longer available

Job Description

Exa is building a search engine from scratch to serve every AI application. We build massive-scale infrastructure to crawl the web, train state-of-the-art embedding models to index it, and develop super high performant vector databases in rust to search over it. We also own a $5m H200 GPU cluster and routinely run batchjobs with 10s of thousands of machines. This isn't your average startup :)

On the ML team, we train foundational models for search. Our goal is to build systems that can instantly filter the world's knowledge to exactly what you want, no matter how complex your query. Basically, put the web into an extremely powerful database.

We're seeking a Head of AI Research to repeatedly define our research direction and then achieve it. This role involves leading and growing a world-class research team and also doing significant amount of research toward extremely powerful ML systems for search.

Desired Experience
  • 4+ years of AI research experience in industry or university

  • Track record of breakthrough research in language models or information retrieval

  • Deep expertise in transformers, large-scale distributed training, or embedding models

This is an in-person opportunity in San Francisco. We're happy to sponsor international candidates (e.g., STEM OPT, OPT, H1B, O1, E3).

Typical senior pay: $77k for Chefs and Head Cooks nationally

National salary averages
Expected senior-level
$77k
Entry
Mid
Senior
Expected
$36k Market range (10th-90th percentile) $96k

Senior roles pay 61% more than entry—experience is well rewarded.

Strong candidate leverage

Strong hiring activity gives you options. Use competing offers strategically.

Hiring leverage
Candidate-favored
Wage leverage
Balanced
Mobility
Good mobility

Who this leverage applies to

Stronger for: Senior candidates with options

Where to negotiate

Base salary
Sign-on bonus
Title / level
Remote flexibility
Scope & responsibility
Start date / PTO

Likely Possible Unlikely

Use competing offers and timing to your advantage.

Does this path compound?

Job Growth →
High churn
Growth, flat pay
🚀 Compound
Growth + pay upside
⚠️ Plateau
Limited growth
Specialize
Experts earn more
Pay Upside →
Growth + pay upside

Both the field and your earnings can grow significantly.

+7%
10yr growth
Typical: High school diploma or equivalent

Openings come from turnover, not new growth. Differentiate to advance.

Labor data: BLS 2024