Strategic Project Lead

Kindredventures; New York (NY); On-site; USD 80,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Kindredventures is looking for a Strategic Project Lead who will drive high-priority projects from inception to delivery. This role demands cross-functional collaboration with engineering and operations teams to ensure timely and quality project outcomes.

Based in New York, the position suits candidates with a strong product sense, exceptional organizational skills, and a proven track record in managing complex projects efficiently.

Qualifications

• 1–3 years of experience in product, operations, consulting, or program management.
• Proven ability to own projects end-to-end.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management abilities.

Responsibilities

• Own projects from request to delivery and completion.
• Scope requirements, define timelines, and drive execution.
• Ensure deliverables meet quality, timeline, and customer expectations.

Skills

Project management

Cross-functional collaboration

Analytical skills

Strong communication

Job description

About Mecka AI

Mecka AI is building the data infrastructure layer for robotics and embodied AI.

We design and operate global systems for data capture, data labeling, and hardware-enabled workflows used by leading AI and robotics teams. Our work sits at the intersection of software, operations, and real-world execution — where reliability, speed, and quality all matter.

Our Mission

Robotics will become the largest industry in human history — larger than anything that has come before it. As intelligent machines move into the physical world, they will dramatically expand global GDP, raise the material standard of living for everyone, and ultimately help make humanity a multiplanetary civilization. None of that happens without one thing: enormous amounts of high-quality, real-world data.

Mecka AI builds that foundation. We are the data infrastructure layer for robotics and embodied AI — the substrate that teaches machines to perceive, reason, and act in reality. Get this right, and we accelerate the most important technological transition of our time.

Our Culture

• Excellence as the baseline. We hold an extremely high bar and expect the best work of your career. Mediocrity isn't interesting to us.

• Highly technical. We reason from first principles, not by analogy. The best argument wins — regardless of title or tenure.

• Truth-seeking. We are relentlessly honest with ourselves and each other. We chase reality — measured, not assumed — and kill our own bad ideas fast.

• Maniacal urgency. The work matters and the clock is real. We move fast, ship, measure, and iterate.

• Extreme ownership. You own outcomes end-to-end — no hand-offs, no excuses, no waiting for permission.

• Hardcore. This is a high-intensity environment for people who want to do the defining work of their lives.

The Role

We’re hiring a Strategic Project Lead to own high-priority projects end-to-end across Mecka’s operations and customer workstreams.

This is a high-agency, generalist role. You will take ownership of projects from initial request → scoping → execution → delivery, working across functions such as data labeling, data capture, and customer deployments.

You’ll partner closely with operations, engineering, and customers to ensure projects are delivered on time, at quality, and at scale.

This role is ideal for someone with strong product sense and execution ability, who can take ambiguous problems and turn them into structured, high-performing systems.

Responsibilities

End-to-End Project Ownership

• Own projects from request to delivery and completion

• Scope requirements, define timelines, and drive execution

• Ensure deliverables meet quality, timeline, and customer expectations

• Identify risks early and proactively resolve blockers

Cross-Functional Execution

• Work across:

  • Data labeling operations
  • Data capture workflows
  • Engineering teams
  • Customer stakeholders

• Coordinate execution across teams with different priorities and constraints

• Ensure alignment between product, operations, and engineering

Throughput & Delivery Management

• Monitor and improve throughput, timelines, and output quality

• Track project performance and ensure SLAs are consistently met

• Identify bottlenecks and drive operational improvements

• Ensure projects scale effectively as volume increases

Product Thinking & Problem Solving

• Translate ambiguous requests into clear execution plans and systems

• Apply strong product judgment to prioritize what matters most

• Improve workflows and systems to increase efficiency and reliability

• Balance speed, quality, and cost in decision-making

Customer & Stakeholder Management

• Serve as the primary owner of project communication

• Manage expectations with internal teams and external customers

• Ensure transparency around timelines, risks, and deliverables

Who You Are

Required Experience

• 1–3 years of experience in product, operations, consulting, or program management

• Proven ability to own projects end-to-end

• Experience working cross-functionally with engineering and operations teams

• Strong organizational and execution skills

• Comfortable working with data in spreadsheets and modern AI tools to analyze program performance

• Excellent communication and stakeholder management abilities

Strong Signals

• Experience in fast-paced startups or high-growth environments

• Background in product management, consulting, or operations leadership

• Experience managing complex, multi-team, high-stakes projects

• Strong intuition for prioritization and tradeoffs

• Experience working with technical teams and understanding system constraints

You Are

• Highly capable and reliable — someone who gets things done
• Structured in your thinking but flexible in execution
• Comfortable operating in ambiguity and fast-changing environments
• Product-minded, with strong judgment on what actually matters
• Calm under pressure and able to manage multiple priorities simultaneously

Why This Role

• Own critical, high-impact projects that directly affect company performance
• Work across multiple functions and problem spaces
• High visibility and direct exposure to leadership
• Shape how Mecka executes and scales globally
• Ideal role for someone who wants to operate at the intersection of product, operations, and execution