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Research Partnerships Manager
Palo Alto, CA
About Abaka AI
Abaka AI is built on one mission: to be the world’s most trusted data partner for AI companies. More than 1,000 industry leaders across Generative AI, Embodied AI, and Automotive AI rely on us to power their data pipelines. With our headquarters in Silicon Valley—and teams in Paris, Singapore, and Tokyo—we support global partners with fast, reliable, and scalable data solutions.
Our offerings include a diverse catalog of off-the-shelf datasets (image, video, multimodal, reasoning, 3D, and beyond) as well as comprehensive data collection and annotation services. Whether teams need raw data, curated datasets, or full-cycle data engineering, Abaka AI provides the foundation for building high-performance AI systems.
About the Role
We are hiring a Research Partnerships Manager to strengthen and scale Abaka AI’s academic and business collaborations.
This role sits at the intersection of research, partnerships, and business development, with a strong focus on understanding client needs and curating customized solutions. You will work closely with our Business Development team to support and expand relationships with researchers, professors, and academic labs, helping translate research connections into meaningful, long-term partnerships.
This is a full-time role designed for PhD researchers who are actively embedded in frontier research communities, combining deep engagement with the academic research ecosystem and strong technical judgment to build industry-facing collaborations. You will play a critical role in shaping how Abaka AI partners with researchers working on frontier AI problems, particularly in areas aligned with Abaka’s core research priorities.
Research Focus Areas
Abaka AI prioritizes partnerships with researchers working on, but not limited to, the following areas:
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Large Language Models (LLMs) and foundation models
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Multimodal models, including text, image, video (video understanding and editing, not diffusion), audio, 3D, agents, and vision-language models (VLMs)
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Reasoning, evaluation, and alignment of LLMs, including benchmark design and analysis
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Embodied AI and robotics, including simulation-based learning and real-world deployment
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Reinforcement Learning (RL) environments, experience generation, and agent capability training
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Dataset creation, curation, and large-scale data engineering for training and evaluation
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Model evaluation, robustness, and deployment challenges in real-world systems
Responsibilities
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Play an active role in shaping Abaka’s research-facing strategy, including identifying high-impact research directions, datasets, and benchmarks.
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Build and maintain relationships with research labs, academic researchers, and professors across AI-related fields, particularly those aligned with Abaka’s research priorities.
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Leverage existing academic and research networks to identify high-potential collaboration opportunities.
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Support academic partnership discussions after initial engagement by the Business Development team.
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Conduct targeted cold outreach to researchers and labs in a professional and ethical manner aligned with academic and institutional norms.
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Represent Abaka AI at academic conferences, workshops, and research events, actively expanding visibility within the research community.
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Develop a strong understanding of academic lab structures, advisor–student pipelines, and researcher career trajectories.
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Stay current on research trends across areas such as LLMs, multimodal models, reasoning systems, and embodied AI.
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Conduct lightweight independent research or literature reviews to support partnership conversations and collaboration planning.
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Collaborate cross-functionally with BD, research, and internal teams to align partnership goals and execution.
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Share insights from the academic research ecosystem to inform partnership strategy, dataset development, and outreach efforts.
Qualifications
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Strong intuition for what makes a dataset, benchmark, or evaluation valuable to frontier AI models, including considerations around quality, scale, coverage, and real-world relevance
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Academic background in computer science, artificial intelligence, machine learning, robotics, or a related field.
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Currently enrolled in, or recently graduated from, a PhD, Master’s, or advanced undergraduate program.
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Familiarity with research areas such as LLMs, multimodal learning, vision-language models, or embodied AI.
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Deep understanding of the academic research ecosystem, including labs, professors, PhD pipelines, and research communities.
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Existing connections within academic or research-focused networks.
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Strong interpersonal and communication skills, with comfort engaging researchers through both warm introductions and cold outreach.
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Highly proactive and self-driven, with a demonstrated ability to independently build and sustain professional networks.
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Comfortable operating in a fast-paced startup environment with high ownership and autonomy.
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Ability to balance research depth with partnership and relationship-building objectives.
Compensation & Benefits
The base salary range for this position is $175,000 - $275,000 USD annually.
Compensation may vary outside of this range depending on a number of factors, including a candidate’s qualifications, skills, competencies and experience. Base pay is one part of the Total Package that is provided to compensate and recognize employees for their work at Abaka AI. This role is eligible for equity, as well as a comprehensive benefits package (health, dental, vision, PTO, flexible work schedule).
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