Strategic Project Lead

Job Description

Job Description

San Francisco, CA · On-site · Full-time Compensation: $140,000–$200,000 base + meaningful equity (4-year vest)

About the Company

Our client is building a job-matching platform that connects domain experts with high-paying data-training opportunities at the world's leading AI labs — a marketplace for the people powering frontier AI, spanning engineering, creativity, finance, and beyond. The platform uses leaderboards, gamification, and progression systems to make high-quality work rewarding, with a matching engine that routes experts to best-fit projects and talent tooling that measures, ranks, and rewards performance at scale.

Industry: AI training data / human data operations

The Role

The client is hiring Strategic Project Leads to own the end-to-end execution of high-stakes AI data projects for top-tier frontier AI-lab clients. SPLs are the primary point of contact for leading AI labs — orchestrating complex workflows, managing teams of expert contributors, and ensuring every deliverable meets the highest bar for quality and efficiency. It's an operationally intensive seat balancing client relationships, team coordination, process optimization, and real-time problem solving.

Requirements

• 3+ years in human-data operations or startup operations
• Complex, multi-stakeholder project management
• Direct client-facing experience
• A strong analytical mindset with a bias toward data-driven decision-making
• Comfortable with ambiguity and able to structure problems from scratch

Nice to Haves

• A full-time SPL or equivalent role at a human-data company (e.g., Mercor, Scale AI) for 3+ years — the exact archetype
• A track record managing 7–8-figure contracts with frontier AI-lab clients
• Demonstrated experience mentoring junior team members or managing expert contributors at scale
• A background in data operations, engineering, CS, or a technical field paired with strong client-facing skills

Why Join

• A direct line to frontier AI labs: own the primary client relationship and manage 7–8-figure contracts per quarter
• Founder access and ownership: end-to-end ownership of marquee projects with a direct line to the founders
• Comp and upside: $140K–$200K base, quarterly performance bonuses, and meaningful equity at a recently funded early-stage startup

Details

• Location — San Francisco, CA
• Work policy — On-site
• Compensation — $140,000–$200,000 base + meaningful equity (4-year vest)
• Visa sponsorship — Not available
• Employment type — Full-time