Director, Research - AI Evals (San Francisco)

Figma is growing our team of passionate creatives and builders on a mission to make design accessible to all. Figma’s platform helps teams bring ideas to life—whether you're brainstorming, creating a prototype, translating designs into code, or iterating with AI. From idea to product, Figma empowers teams to streamline workflows, move faster, and work together in real time from anywhere in the world. If you're excited to shape the future of design and collaboration, join us!The Figma Research team is hiring an Director, Research - AI Evals to own how we measure the quality of Figma's AI-powered experiences. As Figma ships more AI capabilities across our products, the question is this really good? has never mattered more — and answering it rigorously is what this role exists to do. You'll define what good means for our AI features, build the frameworks and quality bars to measure it, and turn that into trusted signal that product teams rely on to decide what to ship.The ideal candidate brings deep, hands-on experience evaluating AI/LLM-powered products — blending human evaluation with automated, model-based approaches — along with the product instinct and communication skills to make evaluation genuinely useful. Partnering with Product, Design, Engineering, and Data Science, you'll sit upstream of nearly every AI shipping decision at Figma and directly shape the quality of features used by millions of people.This is a full time role that can be held from one of our US hubs or remotely in the United States.What you'll do at Figma:Own AI evaluation methods and operations for Figma's AI-powered experiences — define quality dimensions, design how we measure them, and turn results into decision-ready signalBuild and maintain evaluation frameworks, rubrics, golden datasets, and quality bars, combining human evaluation with automated/model-based approaches (e.g., LLM-as-judge) where appropriatePartner with engineering to stand up repeatable, reproducible evaluation pipelines and regression testing, so evaluation is a routine part of how AI features are built and shippedProduce clear readouts and dashboards that let stakeholders confidently make go/no-go and prioritization decisionsSocialize a shared definition of quality so evaluation standards are adopted across teams rather than re-invented — and advocate for evaluation as a strategic partner in the product processManage a small team to execute our AI evals in partnership with contractors, internal staff, and/or LLMsWe'd love to hear from you if you have:10+ years of experience in product, research, applied research, or a closely related field, including 2+ years of management experienceDirect, hands-on experience owning the evaluation of AI/LLM-powered productsExpertise designing and running AI evaluation — human evaluation programs, rubric and benchmark/golden-dataset construction, inter-rater reliability — and sound judgment about when and how to apply automated/model-based approaches (e.g., LLM-as-judge), including their limitationsStrength across both qualitative and quantitative methods, comfort with data and metrics, and the ability to reason about model behaviorDemonstrated success in identifying the riskiest assumptions behind an ambiguous quality question, prioritizing them, and designing right-sized evaluation to build confidenceA proven track record of gaining buy-in from executive and cross-disciplinary stakeholders — transcending methodology to articulate a larger user story and the so what to inspire actionWhile it's not required, it's an added plus if you also have:Experience building or co-building automated evaluation pipelines and regression testing in partnership with engineering, or familiarity with eval tooling (e.g., Braintrust, LangSmith, DeepEval, or equivalents)Experience standing up a new function, practice, or discipline from scratch2+ years in product design, user-centric product management, data science, product development, and/or front-end engineeringA familiarity and depth of experience using Figma's productsAt Figma, one of our values is Grow as you go. We believe in hiring smart, curious people who are excited to learn and develop their skills. If you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with the points outlined in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyways. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.Pay Transparency DisclosureJob level and actual compensation will be decided based on factors including, but not limited to, individual qualifications objectively assessed during the interview process (including skills and prior relevant experience, potential impact, and scope of role), market demands, and specific work location. Figma offers equity to employees, as well as a competitive package of additional benefits, including health, dental, and vision coverage; retirement benefits with company contributions; parental leave and reproductive or family planning support; mental health and wellness benefits; and paid time off. Figma provides paid sick leave, holidays, and other leave benefits in compliance with applicable federal, state, and local laws, including the requirements of the Washington Minimum Wage Act and related regulations. Exempt employees are eligible for employer‑provided paid flexible PTO in addition to flexible paid sick leave. PTO is subject to manager approval. Additional benefits may include company recharge days, cell phone and home internet reimbursements, and a number of lifestyle spending accounts. Figma also offers sales incentive compensation for most sales roles and an annual bonus plan for eligible non-sales roles. All compensation and benefits are subject to applicable plan terms and may be modified by Figma at any time, consistent with applicable law.Annual Base Salary Range:$258,000—$348,000 USDAt Figma we celebrate and support our differences. We know employing a team rich in diverse thoughts, experiences, and opinions allows our employees, our product and our community to flourish. Figma is an equal opportunity workplace - we are dedicated to equal employment opportunities regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity/expression, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements.We will work to ensure individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to apply for a role, participate in the interview process, perform essential job functions, and receive other benefits and privileges of employment. If you require accommodation, please reach out to View email address on apply.placed-app.com. These modifications enable an individual with a disability to have an equal opportunity not only to get a job, but successfully perform their job tasks to the same extent as people without disabilities. Examples of accommodations include but are not limited to: Holding interviews in an accessible locationEnabling closed captioning on video conferencingEnsuring all written communication be compatible with screen readersChanging the mode or format of interviews To ensure the integrity of our hiring process and facilitate a more personal connection, we require all candidates keep their cameras on during video interviews. Additionally, if hired you will be required to attend in person onboarding.By applying for this job, the candidate acknowledges and agrees that any personal data contained in their application or supporting materials will be processed in accordance with Figma's Candidate Privacy Notice.