Manager, AI Operations

Zip; United States; Hybrid; USD 175,000 - 205,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Start-up equity

Health, vision & dental coverage

Catered lunches & dinners

Commuter benefit

Team building events

Flexible PTO

Apple equipment plus home office

Job summary

Zip is seeking a Manager of AI Operations to lead a team focused on product delivery and customer adoption of AI solutions. This role requires strong operational management skills and the ability to handle a mix of FTEs and contractors to achieve measurable outcomes.

In this hands-on leadership position, you will drive adoption of Zip’s AI solutions, ensure quality across processes, and partner with various teams to maintain efficient delivery.

Qualifications

• Track record of owning operational functions with accountability.
• Experience in scaling delivery teams through systems and coaching.
• Technical fluency to assess AI quality and partner reliability.

Responsibilities

• Drive adoption of Zip's AI solutions across the customer base.
• Own the data and integration partnership evaluation program.
• Ensure quality and reliability of Zip's platform capabilities.
• Grow and lead the team behind the function.
• Own throughput across the delivery pipeline.
• Develop internal tools to reduce repetitive tasks.
• Partner daily with cross-functional teams to resolve blockers.

Skills

Operational management

Team leadership

Technical fluency

Commercial judgment

Prioritization

Job description

About Zip

Zip is the AI platform for enterprise procurement — built for humans and agents working together. By orchestrating procurement across teams, tools, and suppliers with the help of AI agents, companies can secure the resources they need to innovate faster than ever before.

The world’s most influential enterprises trust Zip, including T‑Mobile, OpenAI, AMD, Mars, Dollar Tree, and more. Together they’ve saved over $8 billion and processed over $500 billion in spend. Zip’s team includes product leaders from Apple, Airbnb, and Meta, as well as former procurement leaders from United Health, Sanofi, MGM Resorts, Discover, and NASA.

Backed by Adams Street, Alkeon, BOND, CRV, DST, Tiger Global, and Y Combinator, Zip has raised $371 million, most recently at a $2.2 billion valuation and has been recognized by Forbes Fintech 50, Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies, Inc. Best in Business, and LinkedIn Top Startups.

Your Role

As Manager, AI Operations, you lead a team of critical services and delivery, managing a mix of FTEs and a large volume of contractors to drive product delivery and customer adoption of AI products.

You will work closely with the Customer Success team, who manage long‑term relationships and renewals. Your role is to provide the reliable deployment and data foundation they need to help customers grow. You will also collaborate with the AI Forward Deployed Engineering, Product, and Engineering teams, reporting directly to the Director of AI Forward Deployed Engineering and Operations.

This role is for a hands‑on team leader who manages a mix of FTEs and a large volume of contractors to deliver against results. You maintain high standards, building the structure needed for a team to scale while staying involved enough to clear obstacles. You have a track record of managing operational teams to achieve measurable outcomes, possessing the technical fluency to assess intelligent systems and data partners, combined with the business sense to make critical project decisions.

You Will

• Drive the adoption of Zip’s AI solutions across our customer base, helping them move toward automated workflows and meeting targets that turn successful deployments into long‑term revenue, in partnership with Customer Success.
• Own the data and integration partnership evaluation program end‑to‑end: run the coverage, reliability, and accuracy evaluation that decides which partners earn a production integration, and hold partners to ongoing quality once live.
• Ensure the quality and reliability of Zip’s platform capabilities by setting clear standards, testing processes, and release requirements to maintain accuracy for our customers.
• Grow and lead the team behind the function, scaling its capacity and setting the structure, performance standards, and operating cadence that keep output consistent as volume grows.
• Own throughput across the delivery pipeline, from planning and prioritization through deployment, maintenance, and the performance analytics that surface what needs attention.
• Develop internal tools and automation to reduce repetitive tasks within the team’s quality assurance, support, and reporting processes.
• Partner daily across AI Forward Deployed Engineering, Customer Success, Product, and Engineering to keep delivery moving and resolve blockers before they elevate.

You May Be a Great Fit If You Have

• A track record of owning an operational function with accountability for adoption, quality, and throughput, measured on outcomes rather than activity.
• Experience growing and scaling a delivery team through systems, process, and coaching, with a focus on lifting output quality as the team expands.
• Enough technical fluency to judge AI quality, read an LLM evaluation framework, and assess a data partner’s coverage and accuracy, without needing an engineer on call.
• Strong commercial judgment to own partner evaluations and go/no‑go decisions, balancing quality, cost, and strategic value.
• Sharp prioritization under competing demands, and the communication discipline to surface risk to leadership before it becomes a problem.

The salary range for this role is $175,000- $205,000 OTE. The salary for this position is determined based on a variety of job‑related factors that may include location, relevant experience, education, or particular skills and expertise.

Perks & Benefits

• Start‑up equity
• Health, vision & dental coverage
• Catered lunches & dinners for hybrid employees
• Commuter benefit for hybrid employees
• Team building events & happy hours
• Flexible PTO
• Apple equipment plus home office budget

We're looking to hire Zipsters and that means hiring people who take ownership, communicate openly, have an underdog mindset, and are excited to increase the pace of innovation for every business in the world. We encourage all candidates to apply even if your experience doesn't exactly match up to our job description. We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive workspace where everyone (regardless of age, religion, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and more) feels like they belong. We look forward to hearing from you!