Head of Research, DataLab

The role

The Head of Research will lead Protege's DataLab to answer fundamental questions about data for AI. This person will define the research agenda, build experimentation systems, and ensure research informs product and customer strategy.

What you will do

• Define and lead the research strategy for Protege's Data Lab.
• Partner with Product, Engineering, and GTM teams to identify research opportunities.
• Design and oversee experiments for dataset quality, model performance, and privacy methodologies.
• Build scalable systems for benchmarking and training data evaluation.
• Serve as a customer-facing research partner to GTM teams.
• Translate technical questions into research frameworks and actionable recommendations.
• Publish internal research findings to influence product and customer strategy.
• Lead, manage, and scale a team of researchers and data scientists.
• Establish operational rigor around experimentation and documentation.
• Represent Protege externally through technical conversations.

Required qualifications

• Led impactful research initiatives in AI, machine learning, data infrastructure, or applied research environments.
• Built and managed high-performing research teams.
• Experience partnering with customers, GTM teams, or external stakeholders in applied technical settings.
• Developed frameworks for evaluating model performance, dataset quality, synthetic data, or large-scale experimentation systems.
• Experience operating in ambiguous, fast-moving environments.
• Ability to communicate complex technical findings to technical and non-technical audiences.
• Demonstrated ownership of cross-functional initiatives spanning research, engineering, product, and go-to-market teams.
• Track record of translating research into practical systems, tools, or customer-facing impact.
• Experience working with modern AI systems, foundation models, LLM evaluation workflows, or privacy-centric data methodologies.
• High judgment and strong prioritization skills.
• Motivated by building from first principles and solving foundational problems in AI infrastructure.

About the company

Protege is building a platform to facilitate the secure, efficient, and privacy-centric exchange of AI training data. DataLab is Protege's research arm consisting of research scientists tackling fundamental challenges regarding data for AI.