Research Engineer - Evals

The posting, as Firecrawl wrote it

RESEARCH ENGINEER - EVALS

You'll build the evaluation systems that tell us whether Firecrawl actually works. That sounds simple. It isn't. Our core promise, convert any URL into clean, structured, LLM-ready data reliably, is hard to measure rigorously across millions of different websites, formats, and edge cases. As the systems we're measuring get more complex, the question "did that work?" gets harder, not easier.

This isn't an eval role where you inherit a framework and run benchmarks. You'll design the metrics, build the pipelines, generate the datasets, and own the feedback loop from output quality back to model and product decisions. If you care about what "good" actually means and have the engineering depth to measure it, this is the role.

Salary Range: $250,000–$290,000 USD/year (SF) / $210,000–$224,000 CAD/year (Toronto)

Equity Range: Competitive equity. Details shared during the process.

Location: San Francisco, CA (SF HQ) or Toronto, ON (Toronto Hub). Hybrid, onsite 3+ days a week.

Job Type: Full-Time

Experience: 4+ years in ML, research engineering, or data-heavy backend, with real evaluation work

Work Authorization: Open to candidates already authorized to work in the US or Canada. In the US, we also support H-1B transfers, F-1 OPT and STEM OPT, TN (Canada and Mexico), and E-3 (Australia). We’re not able to sponsor new H-1B visas for candidates outside the US. For Canada, we’ll consider work permit sponsorship case by case through our Toronto Hub.

ABOUT FIRECRAWL

Firecrawl is the easiest way to turn the web into data AI agents can use. One API call converts any URL into clean, LLM-ready markdown or structured data. It's the boring-hard problem everyone building with LLMs eventually hits, solved.

In September 2026, we raised a $75M Series B led by Smash Capital, and we're spending it building the largest repository of knowledge in the world. We hit 8 figures in ARR in year one and more than doubled it in year two. We have 192k+ GitHub stars, putting us in the top 40 repositories of all time, and developers, agents, and category-defining AI companies build on us every day. Growth like this is rare, and we're just getting started.

We're a small team punching far above our weight. Everyone here owns a real piece of the product and company, end to end, and runs it themselves. No hiding behind process or headcount.

This is a place for people who want to work at the frontier: an AI company building the infrastructure other AI companies run on, not one bolting AI onto an existing product. We move fast, go deep, and are building the tools superintelligence will rely on to gather data from the web. That library is called Alexandria, and it starts now.

OUR VALUES

• Bias to action: We move fast, ship hard, and don’t wait to be told.
• Realistic about AI: We’re clear-eyed about what AI can and can’t do, and we keep pushing to use it where it actually works.
• All in: The next few years matter a lot, and we’re al

[…]
ring you and your partner

• Retirement: Group RRSP through Wealthsimple, so future-you can thank you

AVAILABLE TO SF-BASED EMPLOYEES

• SF HQ perks: Snacks, drinks, team lunches, intense ping pong, and peak startup energy
• E-Bike transportation: A loaner electric bike to get you around the city, on us

AVAILABLE TO TORONTO-BASED EMPLOYEES

• Toronto Hub perks: Snacks, drinks, team lunches, glass-walled views down University Avenue, and a home base steps from Union Station
• Transit, covered: A PRESTO card loaded for GO Transit, subway, and streetcar, plus station parking if you drive to the train. Winter-proof, on us

INTERVIEW PROCESS

Application Review: Send us your work and a quick note on why this excites you. Show us what you've built: eval systems, metrics you designed, datasets you created, quality problems you measured. We care about what you've shipped, not where you went to school.

Intro Chat (~25 min): A quick conversation to get to know each other before we go deep. We'll talk about what you've been working on, what drew you to Firecrawl, and what you're looking for in your next role. Time for your questions too.

Technical Chat (~45 min): We'll dig into a real problem from our world: how you'd measure whether messy web output is actually "good," and build the system to prove it. Come ready to think out loud. We care how you reason, not whether you memorized the answer.

Founder Chat (~25 min): Culture, pace, ownership, and how you like to work. Time for your questions too.

Paid Work Trial (~40 Hours): Work with the team on a real, scoped evaluation problem, paid at a contractor rate. It's the truest signal for both sides. You see what building at Firecrawl actually feels like, and we see how you ship. Remote-friendly, and we'll flex around your current commitments.

Decision: We move fast after the trial.

If you care about what "good" actually means and have the engineering depth to measure it, you should join us.

👉 Apply now.