Founding Strategic Project Lead

talentpluto; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

TalentPluto is seeking a founding Strategic Project Lead for an early-stage AI data startup operating remotely in the United States. You will own end-to-end data project delivery, sourcing data globally, and managing QC and customer relationships.

The role is high-ownership with long hours, offering equity upside and a clear growth path toward senior leadership as the team scales.

Qualifications

• 2+ years of post-college experience.
• High agency and a generalist mindset.
• Comfortable in an unstructured, early-stage environment.
• Willingness to take on operationally heavy work and long hours.
• Bonus: experience at a human-data startup, a background in product management, or aspirations to found a company.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end delivery of data projects against lab and customer requirements.
• Source data through and manage a global contributor network.
• Run quality control and help build out scalable QC systems.
• Manage customer relationships and coordinate across all sides of delivery.
• Operate with high agency in an unstructured, fast-moving environment.

Skills

High agency

Generalist mindset

Operations

Delivery leadership

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent

Job description

Compensation: $150K-$200K base, plus equity and profit share

Location: Remote (United States)

Work Model: Remote

Industry: AI data / frontier AI labs

Compensation: $150K-$200K base, plus equity and profit share

About the Company

Our partner is an early-stage, fast-growing AI data startup working with frontier AI labs and top voice-model companies to deliver specialized data sets, including voice, reinforcement learning, and environment data. Backed by leading investors and one of the fastest-growing companies in its cohort, the team hit a $1M run rate within its first several weeks. This is a rare ground-floor opportunity to join as the first external hire, with substantial equity upside and a clear path into senior leadership for someone who wants to build.

The Opportunity

As the founding Strategic Project Lead, you will own delivery end to end. You will source data through a global contributor network, run quality control, help build out the QC systems, manage customer relationships, and oversee delivery against lab requirements. Projects typically run a few weeks to a month and move fast. This is an operationally heavy, high-ownership role with long hours, ideal for someone who treats it as more than a job and wants exposure to the fast-growing AI data space. There is a clear growth path from this seat toward senior leadership and operations as the team scales.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end delivery of data projects against lab and customer requirements
• Source data through and manage a global contributor network
• Run quality control and help build out scalable QC systems
• Manage customer relationships and coordinate across all sides of delivery
• Operate with high agency in an unstructured, fast-moving environment

Requirements

• Roughly 2+ years of post-college experience, with openness to high-agency new grads who have interned at a human-data startup
• High agency and a generalist mindset, comfortable wearing multiple hats
• Comfort thriving in an unstructured, early-stage environment
• Willingness to take on operationally heavy work and long hours
• Bonus: experience at a human-data startup, a background in product management, or aspirations to one day found a company