Strategic Project Lead at talentpluto

Location: San Francisco, CA

Work Model: In-office Monday-Friday, remote Saturdays

Industry: AI / human data for model training

Compensation: $120K-$200K base

About the Company

Our partner is a high-growth AI company providing human data that powers the world's leading AI labs. They connect expert networks of doctors, lawyers, engineers, and other specialists with top AI labs to produce the training data behind frontier models. The environment has true startup intensity: fast, demanding, and built for people who want to operate at the center of the AI ecosystem.

The Opportunity

As a Strategic Project Lead, you will run the operations behind high-stakes AI data projects. You will manage three to four concurrent projects with expert teams ranging from under 20 to more than 1,000 contributors, including PhDs, and work directly with researchers at AI labs. There is no established playbook for much of this work, so you will solve problems from first principles and help invent the operational model as you go.

This is a purely operational role rather than a product or strategy seat, and it is demanding: expect long days, in office Monday through Friday with remote work on Saturdays. In return you get unusual ownership, direct access to frontier AI research teams, and a front-row seat to how models are built.

Responsibilities

• Lead three to four concurrent data projects for top AI labs, from kickoff through delivery
• Recruit, organize, and manage expert contributor teams ranging from under 20 to 1,000+ people
• Serve as the day-to-day partner to AI lab researchers, translating their needs into executable plans
• Solve operational problems from first principles and build the playbook where none exists
• Track quality, throughput, and timelines, and fix bottlenecks quickly
• Coordinate across internal teams to keep projects moving at startup speed

Requirements

• 1-5 years of experience in strategic, cross-functional, or project-based roles such as consulting, banking, investing, BizOps, or early-stage operating roles
• Bachelor's degree from a top university, or a top post-graduate degree (MBA/Master's); CS, Data Science, AI/ML, Cognitive Science, or Applied Math preferred
• Experience working directly with founders or executive leadership
• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills
• Thrives in a startup or rapidly growing environment and is excited by a purely operational role
• Based in San Francisco or actively planning to relocate; US work authorization required (no visa sponsorship)
• Bonus: hands-on coding ability, prior Chief of Staff or Program Manager experience, or demonstrated interest in AI