Research Scientist jobs in 2026 — required skills, demand trends, and top hiring cities
As of 2026-10-01, Skillenai has indexed 868 job postings with the title “Research Scientist” over the past 90 days. The skill mentioned most often is Python, with demand share up 6.3% vs the prior 4 weeks.
Last updated · 90d ending 2026-10-01
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Frequently asked questions about Research Scientist jobs
+How many Research Scientist jobs are being posted in 2026?
Skillenai has indexed 868 job postings with the title “Research Scientist” over the 90 days ending 2026-10-01.
+What skills do Research Scientist jobs require?
Across Research Scientist postings indexed by Skillenai over the 90 days ending 2026-10-01, the skills mentioned most often are Python, machine learning, PyTorch, Reinforcement learning, Data analysis.
+Which cities are hiring the most Research Scientist?
As of 2026-10-01, Research Scientist postings indexed by Skillenai are concentrated in San Francisco, London, Sunnyvale, New York City, Cambridge.
+Is Research Scientist a good career path right now?
Skillenai indexes 868 Research Scientist postings over the 90 days ending 2026-10-01. The skill mentioned most often in Research Scientist postings is Python, so building it gives the strongest signal that an applicant matches the role.
+How can I track new Research Scientist job postings as they’re indexed?
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+What roles do people move into and out of Research Scientist?
The career-flow chart shows roles before and after observed employer changes across all locations. Counts are moves, not distinct people or promotion probabilities. Same-role moves to another employer are included. The incoming and outgoing sides are separate groups of observations, not a matched three-stage journey.
Weekly indexed Research Scientist postings — last 90 days
Salary distribution
Box = 25th–75th percentile · tick = median · whisker = 10th–90th · USD, annualized
Career paths through Research Scientist
Different-role employer moves. Each side is scaled independently.
Historical career profiles · all locations
4,106 employer moves kept the same role.
Roles before Research Scientist
Roles after Research Scientist
How to read this chart · view counts
Each side is an independent set of observed employer moves, not the same people followed through three stages. Ribbon widths compare move counts within that side. Internal moves are not included.
Same role means a change of employer while keeping the same role. Counts are moves, not distinct people, promotions, or your chances of making a particular move.
Source: Skillenai talent graph, historical career profiles. Historical descriptions and coverage can change. Only the leading published connections are shown.
| Connection | Moves |
|---|---|
| Before: Research Scientist (different employer) | 4,106 |
| Before: Research Assistant | 689 |
| Before: Research Associate | 275 |
| Before: Software Engineer | 249 |
| Before: Teaching Assistant | 223 |
| Before: Research Intern | 153 |
| Before: Data Scientist | 145 |
| Before: Professor | 111 |
| After: Research Scientist (different employer) | 4,106 |
| After: Data Scientist | 330 |
| After: Software Engineer | 263 |
| After: Professor | 98 |
| After: Research Associate | 85 |
| After: Research Assistant | 77 |
| After: Scientist | 69 |
| After: Teaching Assistant | 66 |
Skills most often required for Research Scientist
| Name | Postings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Python | 233 | 26.8% |
| machine learning | 217 | 25.0% |
| PyTorch | 140 | 16.1% |
| Reinforcement learning | 132 | 15.2% |
| Data analysis | 98 | 11.3% |
| deep learning | 75 | 8.6% |
| computer vision | 67 | 7.7% |
| RLHF | 53 | 6.1% |
| TensorFlow | 52 | 6.0% |
| statistics | 51 | 5.9% |
| JAX | 51 | 5.9% |
| C++ | 50 | 5.8% |
| optimization | 47 | 5.4% |
| R | 42 | 4.8% |
| Generative AI | 41 | 4.7% |
Top companies posting Research Scientist jobs
Employers ranked by indexed job postings in the last 90 days.
| Company | Postings · 90 days |
|---|---|
| AbbVie | 38 |
| Bosch | 31 |
| 24 | |
| Wayve | 23 |
| Anduril Industries | 18 |
| Waymo | 16 |
| Google DeepMind | 15 |
| University of Virginia | 13 |
| Novartis | 12 |
| Scale AI | 12 |
Job postings indexed over the past 90 days, grouped by resolved employer. Counts are postings, not hires. Companies without a published page appear without a link.
Top metros hiring Research Scientist
| Name | Postings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | 56 | 6.5% |
| London | 50 | 5.8% |
| Sunnyvale | 40 | 4.6% |
| New York City | 36 | 4.1% |
| Cambridge | 30 | 3.5% |
| Chicago | 27 | 3.1% |
| Singapore | 19 | 2.2% |
| Boston | 13 | 1.5% |
| Charlottesville | 13 | 1.5% |
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How this was computed
Counts derive from the Skillenai jobs index over the 90 days ending 2026-10-01, matching postings whose canonical role is “Research Scientist”. Pages refresh weekly (or daily for the top-50 most-posted roles). Adjusted posting share: 0.3% to 0.4%. Demand share change is the relative percentage change between these adjusted shares. Each employer-and-ATS group has at least 10 postings in each 90-day window; its earlier posting count supplies the same weight in both windows. The panel includes 2,594 identified employers and covers 68% of earlier and 72% of latest indexed postings. Windows: 2026-06-02 to 2026-08-31 and 2026-06-30 to 2026-09-28 (UTC; end dates excluded). The windows overlap by 62 days. Dates reflect indexing, not the employer’s posting date. This measures posting mix, not total hiring or market-wide demand. Matching excludes entrants and exits; changes in crawl completeness within an employer or ATS can still affect the result.
- role
- Research Scientist
- source
- Skillenai jobs index, deduplicated daily
- data_as_of
- 2026-10-01
- window_days
- 90
The demand, skills, and geo numbers on this page come from the same Skillenai labor market index that powers our API. Use it for compensation benchmarking, hiring-competition analysis, and skill-adoption tracking.
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