Head of Technical Programme Management

Patronus AI is a frontier lab developing simulation research and infrastructure to accelerate progress toward human-aligned AGI. We are on a mission to simulate all of the world’s intelligence.

We are the team behind some of the earliest and most influential research in AI evaluation like FinanceBench , Lynx , SimpleSafetyTests , CopyrightCatcher , Humanity’s Last Exam , and more. We are formerly AI researchers and engineers from companies like Meta AI, Amazon AGI, and Google. Our customers include foundation model labs and Fortune 500 enterprises like Adobe. We are backed by top-tier investors like Lightspeed Venture Partners, Notable Capital, Stanford University, Noam Brown, Gokul Rajaram, and more.

As a Technical Program Manager at Patronus AI, you will run the production line that turns frontier-lab demand into delivered RL environments. Our customers commission simulations of real applications and workflows, and you own the path from signed work order through SME sourcing, environment build, task generation, QA, and delivery.

Like all cutting edge fields, the state of the industry and the work changes shape constantly. App lists get swapped after a work order is signed, difficulty definitions get renegotiated a week before delivery etc. Your job is to keep the plan honest through all of it: who owns what, what is due when, and whether a delivery is actually ready to ship. We believe you should not manage work you don't understand. You will stay in the details, reading QA feedback rows, poking at environments, and sanity-checking task quality, and you are expected to pitch in directly where it unblocks the team. Your work will help frontier labs stress-test and improve the next generation of AI agents, advancing progress toward safe, human-aligned general intelligence.

Manage scope changes mid-program. A previously committed app list doubles in size, or a customer redefines task difficulty on an active work order, and you update the plan, the pricing inputs, and our commitments without losing the thread.

This is where work gets stranded today. Define what "ready to ship" means and hold the line on it. QA tickets are green before anything is marked complete, and tasks pass in the customer's harness, not just locally. Work directly with customers alongside account leads. Turn their asks into plans with clear outcomes, owners, and dates, and keep them current on progress, risks, and timeline confidence. customers notice when we don't.

Identify opportunities for automation and process improvements across the delivery pipeline and build them yourself.

The number one qualification to succeed in this machine learning course is gumption" - John Lafferty, CS Professor at Yale

BS, MS, or equivalent experience in Computer Science, Engineering, or another technical / quantitative field, with 3+ years as a technical program manager, delivery lead, engineering program manager, or in a similar role on complex, multi-team technical programs.

A track record of shipping when requirements move after kickoff, without letting quality or the customer relationship slip.

Strong technical fluency, including comfort using AI tools, reading or reviewing code, and analyzing data or model outputs. Excellent organization and execution skills, with the ability to manage tasks, timelines, quality reviews, customer requirements, and cross‑functional stakeholders. Clear written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to translate customer asks into concrete plans with owners and dates.

Strong eye for quality and detail, with a bias toward catching edge cases, inconsistencies, and subtle failure modes before the customer does.

Experience with reinforcement learning, agent evaluation, RL environments, or human‑data / SME‑sourced data pipelines.

Experience delivering to frontier labs or other research‑driven customers with short turnaround expectations.

Experience standing up QA or review processes for software or data deliverables.

To support close collaboration, this role is based in our San Francisco headquarters and requires in‑office attendance 5 days a week.

In addition to base salary, we offer equity and benefits. Competitive salary and equity packages

Health, dental, and vision insurance plans

Sponsored personal tax accounting

Patronus AI is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity in our workplace, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran status, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or other legally protected characteristics.

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