External Data Quality Partnerships Lead

figure.ai; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 100,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Figure, an AI robotics company, is seeking an External Partnerships Lead for the Data Quality team in San Jose, CA. You own external data vendor relationships, negotiate terms and SLAs, and ensure vendor output meets internal standards.

You will scope, onboard, and monitor labeling partners; manage contracts and budgets, set calibration processes, and collaborate with ML and engineering to translate data quality needs into vendor-ready guidelines.

Qualifications

• 6+ years in data quality, data labeling operations, vendor or partner management, or ML data operations with end-to-end ownership.
• Direct experience selecting, contracting, and managing external data vendors, including defining and enforcing SLAs.
• Experience negotiating commercial terms (pricing, SOWs, capacity) and running vendor business reviews.

Responsibilities

• Own the full external vendor portfolio for Data Quality: sourcing, evaluation, onboarding, and offboarding of data labeling and review partners.
• Negotiate commercial terms, statements of work, and contracts, and manage pricing, budgets, and surge capacity across vendors.
• Set and enforce SLAs and acceptance criteria; hold every vendor to the same golden set and audit bar as the in-house team.
• Serve as the senior owner when a project rotates to external support, directing the Project Coordinators running that work.
• Build and run the vendor scorecard: throughput, quality, inter‑annotator agreement, and SLA adherence, reviewed in regular business reviews.
• Stand up calibration exercises and golden set checks with each vendor so external output matches internal standards.
• Partner with engineering and ML stakeholders to translate data quality requirements into vendor‑ready guidelines and specs.
• Plan capacity and ramp with vendors to meet project timelines, including surge needs and new regions.
• Coordinate with internal Project Coordinators and leadership on which projects rotate to which vendors and when.

Skills

Vendor management

Data quality

Contract negotiation

Stakeholder collaboration

Leadership

Job description

Figure, an AI robotics company, is seeking an External Partnerships Lead for the Data Quality team in San Jose, CA. You own external data vendor relationships, negotiate terms and SLAs, and ensure vendor output meets internal standards.

You will scope, onboard, and monitor labeling partners; manage contracts and budgets, set calibration processes, and collaborate with ML and engineering to translate data quality needs into vendor-ready guidelines.