Scale

Data labelling and model evaluation platform
Last updated:
January 5, 2026
Company details
HQ
San Francisco, CA
HEADCOUNT
1000-2999
ORG TYPE
Startup
SECTOR
Technology & Digital
About the company
Scale builds data infrastructure and tooling used to train, evaluate, and deploy AI systems, including work tied to RLHF, model evaluation, and enterprise AI workflows. Scale sells products like the Scale Data Engine and supports both private-sector and government customers building AI applications. Scale positions the company around “reliable AI systems” and operational excellence alongside software. Scale also runs a large set of roles across engineering, applied AI, operations, and go-to-market teams tied to AI delivery.
Locations and presence
Scale lists San Francisco as the headquarters and commonly hires into hubs like San Francisco and New York, with some roles also listing Seattle. Scale’s careers pages tend to specify location on each role rather than publishing a single, company-wide remote or hybrid policy in one place.
Palpable Score
72.7
/ 100
Scale has real early-career entry points through a dedicated university hub, recurring intern and new grad roles, and a named new grad program for Strategic Projects. Scale is better than many AI startups on transparency, with a published SWE hiring flow and a salary band on at least one flagship new grad posting. Early-career outcomes and stability are the main limiters because public signals point to high intensity and the company has had recent layoffs, while early-career conversion and promotion metrics are not published.
Pillar 1: Early-career access

Score

16.4
/ 20
  • The company runs a dedicated University Student Careers page that explicitly targets “university students and new grads,” with separate sections for university and intern programs.
  • Scale posts true first-role openings such as “Software Engineer – New Grad” alongside student roles like “Machine Learning Research Intern (Summer 2026).”
  • The company positions a specific new grad pathway through the New Grad Strategic Projects Lead (SPL) program rather than limiting early-career access to internships only.

Pillar 2: Hiring fairness and transparency

Score

14.2
/ 20
  • Scale publishes a step-by-step SWE application flow (resume screen, recruiter screen, take-home assessment, technical screen, and a virtual onsite broken into coding, debugging, system design, credos, and a hiring manager screen).
  • The company includes pay transparency and offer-setting factors in at least the Software Engineer – New Grad posting, including a stated base salary range for major locations and what can move an offer within the band.
  • Scale has mixed public candidate-experience signals in third-party interview reporting, including a sizeable share of negative experiences, which lowers confidence in consistency even when stages are clearly listed.

Pillar 3: Learning and support

Score

15.0
/ 20
  • The company frames early-career support in concrete terms on the university page, including “coaching and mentorship” and “community” for the SPL pathway, plus examples of new grad SWE project types.
  • Scale job postings commonly include a learning and development stipend alongside benefits, which supports ongoing upskilling beyond basic onboarding.
  • The company has public employee feedback that points to high-intensity execution, so the day-to-day learning experience can vary depending on team norms and manager support.

Pillar 4: Pay fairness and stability

Score

15.1
/ 20
  • Scale publishes a base salary range for the Software Engineer – New Grad role in San Francisco, New York, and Seattle ($124,000–$155,000) and states that equity and benefits are part of the package for eligible roles.
  • The company repeats a consistent benefits set across postings, including health, dental, vision, retirement benefits, generous PTO, and a learning and development stipend.
  • Scale had a major layoff in July 2025 affecting about 14% of staff and hundreds of contractors, which increases perceived job-security risk for early-career hires.

Pillar 5: Early-career outcomes

Score

12.0
/ 20
  • The company has employee review signals that rate “career opportunities” relatively higher than work-life balance and include claims of fast growth, which suggests meaningful progression for some early-career paths.
  • Scale has also accumulated public feedback that mentions high intensity and churn risk, and the 2025 layoffs add uncertainty about retention outcomes for newer cohorts.
  • The company does not publish intern-to-offer conversion rates, graduate retention, or typical time-to-promotion, so early-career outcomes are hard to validate beyond mixed third-party sentiment.

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