Research Product Manager (RPM)
Quick facts
- Pay
- $150,000 - $240,000 base salary
- Type
- Full-time
- Location
- San Francisco, California
- Experience
- 0–5 years
- Skills
- Python
- Industry
- Information Technology — 671 open jobs
- Visa in listing
- H-1B, OPT
- Apply
- Free to apply — never pay anyone for a job offer or visa sponsorship
Job description
Our client is a Y Combinator-backed AI research company building simulation environments and synthetic-data pipelines for reinforcement learning and next-generation model training. The company works with leading AI labs, frontier startups, and Fortune 500 enterprises and has raised $5M.
This Research Product Manager is a research-first product role focused on the model itself, not a traditional application backlog. You will work with researchers at frontier AI labs to identify capability gaps, design evaluations and training-data programs, run experiments, and manage delivery from research scoping through weekly data releases.
What you'll do
- Co-design model capabilities by identifying gaps and running headroom analyses.
- Run experiments and benchmarks using simulation infrastructure and evaluation tooling.
- Translate ambiguous partner requests into research questions, project plans, and aggressive milestones.
- Design data-curation programs using domain experts and synthetic-data generation.
- Conduct literature reviews and implement state-of-the-art research in practical evaluation frameworks.
- Own one-to-three-month projects from scoping through weekly delivery, feedback, and iteration.
- Bridge research and operations across researchers, customers, and external contributors.
Requirements
- 0 to 5 years of experience in AI/ML research, technical product management, research engineering, or another deeply technical role.
- Fluency in LLM evaluations, benchmarks, coding agents, and modern model-development workflows.
- Strong Python skills and comfort with data, experiments, and technical tooling.
- Demonstrated ability to ship technical projects end to end.
- Research-minded judgment, curiosity, and comfort with open-ended questions.
- Excellent communication and project leadership across technical and non-technical collaborators.
- High ownership, urgency, and comfort working in an early-stage environment.
- Ability to work five days per week on-site in San Francisco.
Benefits
- $150,000 to $240,000 base salary.
- Sizable performance bonus tied to project and company milestones.
- Meaningful early-stage equity.
- Health, dental, and vision coverage.
- Flexible paid time off.
- Direct access to frontier AI researchers and substantial ownership over model-development programs.
The company can consider OPT and existing H-1B transfers.
Visa sponsorship record
No public sponsorship records foundWe didn't find H-1B, H-1B1, E-3 or green card (PERM) filings under the name Raydar in the Department of Labor and USCIS data. That doesn't mean the job can't be sponsored — the company may file under a different legal name, be new to sponsorship, or sponsor a visa that isn't in these datasets (for example H-2B or J-1).
Tip: ask the recruiter early, in writing, which visa they sponsor and whether they cover the legal and filing fees.
Which visas can work for this job
Occupation: Marketing Managers (SOC 11-2021) — estimated from the job title.
- Mentioned in the listing
H-1B, OPT
- H-1B cap-exempt employer
Regular cap-subject employer — a new H-1B needs to win the lottery in March (unless you already hold cap-counted H-1B status).
- TN (citizens of Canada and Mexico)
This role doesn't clearly match a profession on the USMCA (TN) list.
- E-3 (Australia) and H-1B1 (Chile, Singapore)
Same degree requirement as H-1B, but no lottery and a separate quota that is rarely filled.
- O-1 (extraordinary ability)
For candidates with awards, publications, press, a high salary or critical roles at distinguished organizations. No cap, no lottery; the employer files a petition.
Salary vs prevailing wage
Level I (entry)Marketing Managers · San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA. Annual prevailing wages set by the Department of Labor (OFLC).
| Level | Prevailing wage | H-1B lottery odds* |
|---|---|---|
| Level I | $148,387 | ~15% |
| Level II | $191,942 | ~31% |
| Level III | $235,477 | ~46% |
| Level IV | $279,032 | ~61% |
This job pays $150,000–$240,000 a year — that's Level I (entry). In the wage-weighted H-1B lottery a Level I registration gets 1 entry; estimated selection chance about 15% — below average.
* Odds are DHS projections for the FY2027 wage-weighted lottery (actual results vary by year and employer). Since the FY2027 cap season the H-1B lottery is weighted by wage level: Level I = 1 entry, II = 2, III = 3, IV = 4. The level is set by the offered wage against the prevailing wage for the occupation and worksite. Separately, a $100,000 fee for new H-1B petitions for workers outside the US was announced in 2025; as of September 2026 a federal court ruling keeps it unenforceable while appeals continue — check the current status.
Sources: U.S. Department of Labor OFLC disclosure data (H-1B/H-1B1/E-3 LCA, PERM), OFLC prevailing wage data, USCIS H-1B Employer Data Hub, E-Verify participating employers. Data loaded: LCA FY2024–FY2026, PERM, USCIS Data Hub, OFLC wages; updated 2026-10-03. Employers are matched by name, so records of companies with similar names can occasionally be mixed up. This is general information, not legal advice — talk to an immigration attorney about your case.