Strategic Project Lead (Financial Services)

Coastal Wave Recruiting

San Francisco, CA

JOB DETAILS
SALARY
$150,000–$225,000
SKILLS
Academic Background, Analysis Skills, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Banking Services, Consulting, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Documentation Standards, Economic Modeling, Entrepreneurship, Equity Securities, Finance, Financial Planning, Financial Services, Hedge Funds, Investment Services, Private Banking, Product Pricing, Project/Program Management, Quality Metrics, Reinforcement Learning, Requirements Management, Startup, Strategic Planning
LOCATION
San Francisco, CA
POSTED
30 days ago

Our client, an AI-driven financial services startup, is seeking a Strategic Project Lead to join its early team.

This is a unique opportunity to work at the intersection of finance and frontier AI—helping build reinforcement learning environments that train next-generation AI models for real-world financial workflows. You'll partner directly with leading AI labs and play a critical role on a lean, high-impact team preparing for its next stage of growth.

What You'll Do

  • Own day-to-day delivery and quality of training environments, managing contractors and running experiments
  • Operate as a de facto product lead, shaping features and partnering with engineering on product direction
  • Manage customer relationships, translating requirements into high-quality deliverables
  • Build operational systems from scratch, including documentation, quality standards, and scalable processes
  • Contribute to strategic and financial planning, including pricing, revenue modeling, and project economics

Requirements

  • 1–3 years of experience in investment banking, private equity, hedge funds, or top-tier consulting (finance-focused)
  • Analyst/Associate at IB,​ PE,​ or hedge fund
  • Strong understanding of financial services and ability to evaluate models and deliverables
  • Proven ownership of projects or workstreams in high-performance environments
  • Entrepreneurial mindset, with evidence of side projects or building something independently
  • Hands-on experience experimenting with AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT, Claude, Cursor)
  • Strong academic background; technical or CS exposure is a plus

Benefits

Salary & Equity 

Additional variable compensation is possible.

Visa sponsorship & Relocation

About the Company

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Coastal Wave Recruiting