AI Startup Operations Lead

Spaitial; Greater London; On-site; GBP 50,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

SpAItial is seeking a detail-oriented operations lead to own the recurring finance cycle, payroll, onboarding, and vendor management. You will work directly with the COO to streamline processes and support a frontier AI company building 3D environments.

The role is hands-on, high-trust, with visibility into how the company grows, including coordination with German colleagues and external suppliers. Excellent organizational discipline is essential.

Qualifications

• 4+ years in operations, business operations, finance operations, or a similar role, including time in a startup or fast-moving technology company.
• At least one role held long enough to live with the systems you built and fix them when they broke.
• Exceptional diligence. You keep lists, you trust your system more than your memory, and you close things out, including the tedious ones.
• Numerate and comfortable in spreadsheets, with the judgment to know when a figure looks wrong.
• Genuinely AI-native. You already use these tools daily and reach for them first when work repeats.

Responsibilities

• Finance cycle with our accountants (reconciliations, management accounts, expenses, invoicing) and keep cash, burn, runway, and budget current and trustworthy.
• People operations. Own payroll, onboarding, contracts, benefits, and employee documentation, and make sure a new joiner's first two weeks are excellent.
• Advisors and compliance. Coordinate our payroll providers, pension, healthcare, banks, insurers, and legal counsel and keep the company in good standing across filings, VAT, statutory obligations, and insurance.
• Vendors and spend. Own vendor relationships, contracts, and renewals, including significant compute and infrastructure commitments.
• Workplace. Own our London office as a place people want to be, including management of space, equipment, suppliers, and support team events that make every day in the office worth it.
• Process. Turn founder-led, manual workflows into documented processes that run without anyone remembering to run them.
• Reporting. Prepare inputs for board materials, investor updates, and reporting packs, and work with our German colleagues and suppliers to keep things aligned

Skills

Operations experience

Attention to detail

Diligence

Numeracy

AI-native mindset

Tools

Xero

HRIS (Personio/Bob)

Payroll platforms

Carta

Notion

Google Workspace

Job description

SpAItial is seeking a detail-oriented operations lead to own the recurring finance cycle, payroll, onboarding, and vendor management. You will work directly with the COO to streamline processes and support a frontier AI company building 3D environments.

The role is hands-on, high-trust, with visibility into how the company grows, including coordination with German colleagues and external suppliers. Excellent organizational discipline is essential.