Senior Data Scientist - Applied AI

• Design and execute experiments to evaluate and improve the quality of large language models (LLMs), voice/text AI systems, multimodal models, and long horizon task agents
• Build scalable evaluation datasets, benchmarks, and automated evaluation frameworks across language, speech, reasoning, and agent workflows
• Analyze large-scale product, customer, and model telemetry to identify failure modes, performance bottlenecks, and opportunities for improvement
• Develop statistical models, predictive analytics, and experimentation frameworks to measure model quality, user experience, and business impact
• Develop, optimize, and evaluate prompts, system instructions, retrieval strategies, and context engineering techniques to improve performance, reliability, efficiency, and safety of AI applications
• Fine-tune and adapt foundation models to improve task specific performance, efficiency, and enterprise readiness using supervised learning, reinforcement learning, and other modern techniques
• Design and curate high quality datasets for model training, evaluation, and continuous improvement of AI systems
• Partner with cross functional stakeholders to define AI product requirements, success metrics, experimentation strategies, and data driven roadmaps
• Build dashboards, analytics pipelines, and reporting frameworks that provide actionable insights into AI quality, reliability, customer experience, and business outcomes
• Apply statistical inference, causal analysis, and machine learning techniques to solve challenging product and operational problems
• Develop scalable evaluation methodologies for Responsible AI, including safety, robustness, fairness, security, and governanceCommunicate technical findings and recommendations clearly to both technical and executive audiences

• 5+ years of experience in Data Science, Machine Learning, Applied AI, or a related technical field
• Master’s or Ph.D. in Computer Science, Data Science, Statistics, Mathematics, Operations Research, Machine Learning, or a related quantitative field, or equivalent practical experience
• Strong experience with Large Language Models (LLMs), Generative AI, and AI agents
• Experience with prompt engineering, context engineering, and Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG)
• Experience fine tuning and adapting foundation models for domain specific applications
• Experience applying reinforcement learning and modern model optimization techniques
• Strong foundation in machine learning, statistics, experimentation, and causal inference
• Experience designing A/B tests and interpreting experimental results
• Proficiency in Python and common machine learning frameworks
• Experience with speech, multimodal AI, conversational AI, or voice agents is a plus
• Experience monitoring and continuously improving machine learning models in productionExcellent communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to influence cross functional teams and executive stakeholders

Preferred Skills

• Large Language Models (LLMs)
• Generative AI
• AI Agents
• Prompt Engineering
• Context Engineering
• Foundation Model Fine Tuning
• Reinforcement Learning (RL)
• Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG)
• Machine Learning
• Statistical Modeling
• Experiment Design and A/B Testing
• Causal Inference
• Predictive Analytics
• Python
• AI Evaluation and Benchmarking
• Responsible AI
• Speech and Multimodal AI
• Data Visualization

What Makes You Successful

You’re a hands on technical expert who enjoys solving challenging AI problems through data, experimentation, and machine learning. You combine strong analytical thinking with practical engineering skills and are comfortable working across the full AI lifecycle, from data curation and model optimization to evaluation and production deployment. You thrive in collaborative environments, communicate effectively with diverse stakeholders, and are driven to build AI systems that are reliable, scalable, and deliver meaningful business and customer value.

4.24.2 out of 5 stars 500 Emerson Street, Palo Alto, CA $148,500 - $285,800 a year - Full-time, Pulled from the full job description

• Paid parental leave
• Parental leave
• 401(k)
• Health insurance
• Vision insurance
• Dental insurance
• Disability insurance, benefits, training, assessment of job performance, discipline, termination, and everything in between. Recruiting, hiring, and promotion decisions at Salesforce are fair and based on merit. The same goes for compensation, benefits, promotions, transfers, reduction in workforce, recall, training, and education.

In the United States, compensation offered will be determined by factors such as location, job level, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. Certain roles may be eligible for incentive compensation, equity, and benefits. Salesforce offers a variety of benefits to help you live well including: time off programs, medical, dental, vision, mental health support, paid parental leave, life and disability insurance, 401(k), and an employee stock purchasing program. More details about company benefits can be found at the following link: https://www.salesforcebenefits.com.

At Salesforce, we believe in equitable compensation practices that reflect the dynamic nature of labor markets across various regions.

The typical base salary range for this position is $148,500 - $260,100 annually. In select cities within the San Francisco and New York City metropolitan area, the base salary range for this role is $178,900 - $285,800 annually.

The range represents base salary only, and does not include company bonus, incentive for sales roles, equity or benefits, as applicable.

Salesforce is the #1 AI CRM, where humans with agents drive customer success together. Here, ambition meets action. Tech meets trust. And innovation isn’t a buzzword - it’s a way of life. The world of work as we know it is changing and we’re looking for Trailblazers who are passionate about bettering business and the world through AI, driving innovation, and keeping Salesforce’s core values at the heart of it all.

Ready to level-up your career at the company leading workforce transformation in the agentic era? You’re in the right place! Agentforce is the future of AI, and you are the future of Salesforce.

About the Team

Our Data Science team builds the next generation of enterprise AI systems powering conversational agents, voice experiences, language models, and intelligent automation. We work across the entire AI stack, from data and model development to evaluation, safety, and production optimization, to deliver reliable, trustworthy AI at enterprise scale.

We’re looking for a Senior Data Scientist who is passionate about applying machine learning, statistics, and generative AI to solve complex real world problems. You’ll work closely with engineers, product managers, researchers, and business stakeholders to build, optimize, and evaluate AI systems that deliver measurable customer impact., Salesforce is an equal opportunity employer and maintains a policy of non-discrimination with all employees and applicants for employment. What does that mean exactly? It means that at Salesforce, we believe in equality for all. And we believe we can lead the path to equality in part by creating a workplace that’s inclusive, and free from discrimination. Know your rights: workplace discrimination is illegal. Any employee or potential employee will be assessed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications - without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, transgender status, age, disability, veteran or marital status, political viewpoint, or other classifications protected by law. This policy applies to current and prospective employees, no matter where they are in their Salesforce employment journey. It also applies to recruiting, hiring, job assignment, compensation, promotion