Strategic Projects Lead

Location: San Francisco (on-site, M-F plus a half-day or remote on Sundays)

Compensation

Base salary of $130,000 to $150,000, plus equity and bonus. Annual target compensation of $220,000-$300,000.

About our client

Our client is a San Francisco AI research lab building novel datasets and running experiments to map the limits and capabilities of today's leading models. Every frontier foundation model lab is a customer. The company recently closed a $30M Series A at a roughly $300M valuation. Earlier backers include Y Combinator and BoxGroup, alongside ex-partners from Lightspeed and Index Ventures and senior leaders at Google DeepMind and Meta GenAI.

Role overview

The Strategic Projects Lead will work directly with the founding team on high-priority projects spanning product development, research, and operations. This is an early-hire role with broad scope across the company, suited to a high-ownership operator who wants to be in the room on the most consequential decisions.

Key responsibilities

• Work closely with the world's leading AI labs to generate next-generation datasets that push the boundaries of AI, directly generating revenue for the company
• Manage teams of experts across a wide variety of domains, including finance, software engineering, and the sciences
• Collaborate with internal teams to develop groundbreaking AI research
• Drive initiatives across the company as an early hire
• Support the team across various operational initiatives

Required qualifications

• 2+ years of experience at a top investment bank, top private equity firm, MBB (McKinsey, Bain, BCG) consulting firm
• Degree from a top-tier university
• Track record in a client-facing, high-ownership role
• Strong communication and client management skills
• High agency with proven ability to own projects end-to-end
• Intense work ethic, drive, and competitive nature with a track record of demonstrated past success
• Strong leadership experience
• Passion for AI and interest in entrepreneurship
• Willing to work 60+ hours per week when needed
• Willing to work 5 days a week (M-F) on-site in the SF office, plus a half-day or remote on Sundays

ExitOpp is a 3rd party recruiter contracted to help identify talent for this role.