About AfterQuery

AfterQuery is an applied research lab curating data solutions for foundation model development. We serve every frontier AI lab with the mission of delivering the best data to power the best models. In doing so, we can make expertise that once took a lifetime to build available to anyone who needs it.

Our customers are the ones building the foundation models themselves and our work sits directly in the loop of how those systems improve. This is a rare opportunity to join a company at a defining moment in AI. Forbes reported that we could be YC's fastest unicorn, reportedly raising at a $3.2 billion valuation. We're based in San Francisco and backed by leading investors including Altos Ventures, BoxGroup, and Y Combinator and angels from Google DeepMind, OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta Superintelligence Labs, and Microsoft AI.

Why Apply

Massive Opportunity: Forbes reported that we could be YC's fastest unicorn, reportedly raising at a $3.2 billion valuation, and we're not slowing down.

Founding Impact: You will own and architect core infrastructure systems that power our platform from the ground up.

Equity & Growth: Competitive salary and meaningful equity. As we scale, you’ll have the opportunity to shape the engineering organization and lead major technical initiatives.

Strong Team: Our founding team has experience from Citadel Securities, Meta, Google, Silver Lake, and Morgan Stanley — work alongside world-class engineers and researchers.

Overview

AfterQuery is hiring a Research Program Manager to run the operations behind its research programs: public benchmark releases, collaborations with academic and industry partners, and the research roadmap. You own the coordination, external relationships, and progress tracking that keep the program moving, and you are welcome to contribute to the research itself, from benchmark design to co-authoring publications.

This is a technical, hands-on role, not a pure coordination one. You will read results tables, run evals, sanity-check numbers before they go public, and turn loosely specified research needs into engineering and operational roadmaps. You will also be the program's voice to external partners, so clear writing and confident communication across researchers, executives, and academics are as important as technical fluency. You work daily with researchers, engineers, domain experts, and go-to-market partners.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the point of contact for collaborations with academic and industry partners, including fellowships, grants, and joint research projects, and run each from scoping through delivery.