$130,000–$150,000 Per Year
Application Programming Interface (API), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Benchmarking, Communication Skills, Computer Science, Data Analysis, Data Management, Data Modeling, Data Science, Data Sets, Debugging Skills, Delivery Management, Engineering, Engineering Management, Leadership, Machine Learning, Machine Tool, Mentoring, Problem Solving Skills, Python Programming/Scripting Language, Quality Control, Software Engineering, Startup, Team Lead/Manager, Technical Leadership, Technical Strategy, Technical/Engineering Design, Training Data Sets, Work From Home
San Francisco, California
San Francisco, CA · On-site · Full-time
Compensation: $130,000–$150,000 base (up to $300K total cash comp) + equity
About the Company
A fast-growing, venture-backed AI company building the training data and evaluation infrastructure that leading frontier AI labs use to improve their models — designing high-signal datasets and running rigorous evaluations that go beyond static benchmarks. One of the fastest-growing companies in its cohort.
Founded 2025 · 11–50 people · Industry: AI training data & model evaluation infrastructure
The Role
A founding-level role at the intersection of technical execution and strategic leadership. You'll own high-impact initiatives end-to-end — from requirements through delivery — managing teams of engineers, data scientists, and ML specialists while shipping production code yourself, and interfacing directly with research teams at leading AI labs.
What you'll be doing
- Own end-to-end technical initiatives: scoping requirements, building solutions, managing experts through delivery, and shipping code yourself when it unblocks the team.
- Design and build technical infrastructure and tooling for dataset generation, quality control, and delivery pipelines across multiple concurrent lab contracts.
- Manage and mentor teams of software engineers, data scientists, and ML specialists; set technical direction and hold the bar for execution velocity.
- Interface directly with research teams at leading AI labs to translate their needs into technical specs and ensure delivery meets their standards.
- Debug production issues live under pressure; rapidly context-switch between hands-on engineering, team leadership, and strategic problem-solving.
- Support the founding team on the highest-impact work — internal tooling, major contracts, and hiring.
Tech stack: Python; data pipelines, APIs, ML/AI tooling
Requirements
- CS degree, engineering experience, or equivalent demonstrated ability to ship technical projects
- Manage teams of technical experts across software engineering, data science, and machine learning
- Build technical infrastructure and tooling for dataset generation, quality control, and delivery pipelines
- Drive technical and operational initiatives end-to-end: scoping requirements, building solutions, and managing technical experts
- Interface directly with engineering and research teams at leading AI labs
- Support founding team on high-priority technical projects and operational initiatives
- Proficiency in Python and production-quality code
- Experience with data pipelines, APIs, or ML/AI tooling
- Strong leadership experience and communication skills
- Ability to context-switch rapidly between technical and strategic work
- Intense work ethic, agency, and drive
- Competitive nature and track record of exceptional achievement
- Undergraduate degree from the U.S., Canada, or the U.K.
Green Flags
- Background in software engineering, ML engineering, AI research, or computer science
- Experience at top tech company (FAANG, frontier AI lab) or quantitative trading firm
- Prior startup experience or founding experience
- Willingness to work long hours and weekends when projects demand it
Red Flags
- Worked cushy tech jobs (FAANG PM, etc.) and may not be used to intense work environments.
- Struggles with ambiguity or lacks examples of owning large, complex projects.
- Only interested in remote work — role is strictly in-person.
- Can't articulate why they want to pivot into AI ops or join a startup now.
- No experience managing teams or unclear on motivating people toward execution.
Why Join
- Direct access to the founding team on their highest-priority problems
- Exposure to leading frontier AI labs; work that powers major contracts
- Up to $300K total cash comp plus meaningful equity in a fast-scaling company
Details
- Location: San Francisco, CA
- Work policy: On-site — strictly in-person
- Compensation: $130,000–$150,000 base (up to $300K total cash comp) + equity
- Visa sponsorship: None available
- Employment type: Full-time