Head of Data Quality

About the Role

Snorkel AI is hiring a Head of Data Quality to build and own the quality system at the heart of our Data-as-a-Service business. This role is hybrid (3 days/week in office) in San Francisco, CA or New York, NY. Our DaaS business runs a digital data factory: expert human contributors working inside our product to produce customer-specific datasets at scale. The work most closely resembles a high-mix, engineered-to-order manufacturing line — with one defining twist: the spec is a living document. Production starts against an initial spec, calibrates against early samples, and continues to evolve as production ramps. Each pipeline's target is a moving target. You are the person who turns that environment into a system. You will design the end-to-end quality architecture — spanning individual datapoint quality, dataset-level quality, and contributor quality — and ensure that high-quality data production is repeatable, measurable, and improvable at scale. The role is cross-functional by default: you will work across GTM, Delivery, Product, and Engineering, and most of your impact will come through teams you don't directly manage.

This is a Principal IC role to start. You will build and own the system before you build the team. As the function matures, this role is expected to grow into a people-management track. If you've built quality systems from scratch in environments that deliver highly customized work against evolving specifications — whether in pharma, localization, semiconductor manufacturing, aerospace, or AI data — and want to apply that expertise to one of the most important challenges in AI, this is the role.

What You'll Do

• Establish Snorkel's quality strategy, standards, and operating model across contributors, datasets, and individual data points.
• Build the processes, metrics, and governance mechanisms that enable quality to be measured, scaled, and continuously improved.
• Ensure quality is embedded throughout the DaaS lifecycle and reflected in the commitments we make to customers.
• Define the standards and operating mechanisms that drive high-quality outcomes across contributors, datasets, and engagements.
• Partner across Supply, Expert Contributor Experience, Product, and Engineering to operationalize and scale quality throughout the business.
• Leverage data, automation, and AI-assisted workflows to continuously improve quality, efficiency, and customer outcomes.
• Establish and scale the Quality function, starting as a hands-on builder and evolving the organization, operating model, and team as the business grows.
• Serve as a champion for Snorkel's quality approach with customers, prospects, and industry audiences, helping position quality as a key differentiator for the business.

What You'll Bring

• 8+ years of experience in quality, operations, program management, or a related field, with a track record of building or significantly redesigning quality systems in complex, human-in-the-loop environments.
• Experience defining quality standards, measurement frameworks, and operating processes that drive consistent outcomes at scale.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, including experience using data to measure performance, identify risks, and drive continuous improvement.
• Demonstrated ability to lead through influence and drive cross-functional initiatives across Product, Engineering, Operations, and business teams.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to operate effectively from executive discussions through day-to-day execution.
• Comfortable operating in ambiguity, establishing structure where none exists, and building systems, processes, and teams from the ground up.
• Experience may come from AI data and evaluation organizations, or from other industries that operate complex quality systems at scale, including manufacturing, life sciences, localization, aerospace, or other highly customized production environments.

Bonus Points for:

• Experience building or scaling quality programs for AI data, model evaluation, or other human-in-the-loop AI workflows.
• Familiarity with AI-assisted quality methods, including LLM-as-judge, automated review systems, or other model-assisted approaches.
• Experience operating in environments with evolving requirements, complex task types, or rapidly changing definitions of quality.
• Background in consulting, engineering, operations, or other roles that demonstrate strong first-principles thinking and problem solving.
• Master's degree in a relevant field, or an MBA with an operations or quality focus

Pay Transparency Notice: Depending on your work location, the target annual salary base for this position can range as detailed below. Snorkel also includes benefits (including medical, dental, vision and 401(k)). The salary range for this position based off of tier 1 locations such as San Francisco Bay Area, and New York, and is $280,000-$350,000. All offers include equity compensation in the form of employee stock options.