Roles at frontier labs · Research specialties
Interpretability Researcher
5 recorded postings · Partial update · October 8, 2026
Recorded postings, not a live vacancy count. Partial update: some sources retain earlier observations; each listing has its own check date.
Interpretability teams look inside models to explain what they compute: features, circuits and probes, and tools that let other researchers do the same.
- Interpretability 100%
- Python 80%
- How language models work 60%
- Pretraining and scaling laws 40%
- Multimodal models 40%
- Math for ML 40%
taught here course coming not taught
The numbers
- Recorded postings at 2 labs
- 5
- Median base pay middle half $425k to $440k, 5 U.S. bands
- $438k
- No degree requirement stated 0% require a PhD outright
- 60%
- Years asked, median of the 4 that state a minimum
- 3.5
The recorded snapshot
Postings from 2 labs
In the labs' own words
In the labs' own words
“Some familiarity with our work and mechanistic interpretability”
Your way in
Three doors to this role
- Door 1
Finishing a degree
40% mention publications
The way in is a program: 32 recorded in the snapshot
- Door 2
A software engineer
60% have no degree requirement stated
What to add
- Door 3
A PhD
20% ask for PyTorch
Engineering at scale
Asked often
The short answers
How much does a interpretability researcher at a frontier lab make?
The median U.S. base salary across 5 recorded interpretability researcher postings that publish a band is $438k; the middle half runs from $425k to $440k. Equity and bonus are not included.
Do you need a PhD to be a interpretability researcher?
60% of the 5 recorded postings do not state a degree requirement, 40% mention a PhD or master's, and 0% require a PhD outright.
What skills do interpretability researcher postings ask for?
Most often: interpretability (100%), python (80%), how language models work (60%), pretraining and scaling laws (40%), multimodal models (40%).
Which labs posted interpretability researcher roles in this recorded board?
Recorded board: Anthropic (3), OpenAI (2).
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The board
Recorded postings, newest first
Each title opens the lab's own posting. By family: research scientists and engineers
- [Expression of Interest] Research Manager, Interpretability ↗
Anthropic · Research scientists and engineers · No degree stated · $350k to $500k base
- Research Engineer, Interpretability ↗
Anthropic · Research scientists and engineers · No degree stated · $315k to $560k base
- Research Scientist, Interpretability ↗
Anthropic · Research scientists and engineers · No degree stated · $350k to $850k base
- Researcher, Alignment Interpretability ↗
OpenAI · Research scientists and engineers · PhD or equivalent experience · $295k to $500k base
- Researcher, Interpretability ↗
OpenAI · Research scientists and engineers · PhD or equivalent experience · $380k to $500k base
