Strategic Project Lead — Business Development

Simulation 95; Menlo Park (CA); Hybrid; USD 270,000 - 330,000; Full time

Job summary

Simulation95 is seeking a Strategic Project Lead in Menlo Park to develop commercial relationships with AI research organizations and guide opportunities from first conversations to signed agreements. You will collaborate with researchers, engineers, and procurement teams to tailor projects our team can deliver.

In this hybrid, full-time role, you will shape scope, pricing, and proposals, win new business, and turn pilots into ongoing engagements with a strong emphasis on revenue growth and

Qualifications

• Proven track record of personally winning substantial contracts with AI research organizations or other sophisticated buyers.
• Established relationships in the AI research and engineering community.
• Technical fluency in reinforcement learning, post-training, model evaluation, and expert-generated data.
• Experience selling complex services, data, or technical infrastructure.
• Sound commercial judgment and ability to manage prospecting, negotiations, and follow-through.

Responsibilities

• Build relationships with researchers, reinforcement learning engineers, post-training teams, and procurement leaders at prospective customers.
• Manage the sales process, including prospecting, proposals, commercial negotiations, signed agreements, and account expansion.
• Work with the founder and delivery team to define project scope, pricing, and acceptance criteria.
• Negotiate terms that reflect our delivery capacity, quality standards, and timelines.
• Maintain a well-qualified pipeline and develop repeat business with existing customers.
• Use customer feedback to inform the services and capabilities we develop.

Skills

Winning contracts

AI relationships

RL expertise

Selling complex services

Commercial judgment

Job description

Strategic Project Lead — Business Development

Location Menlo Park, CA (San Francisco Bay Area)

Working arrangement Hybrid

Employment type Full-time

Compensation $300,000 annual base salary plus 0.5% commission

Simulation95 is building at the intersection of artificial intelligence, healthcare, and life sciences. We believe meaningful progress starts with people who understand the hardest problems firsthand. We’re bringing together experts, researchers, and builders to turn that understanding into technology that matters.

For curious people who take their craft seriously, this is an opportunity to help shape something early—with challenging problems, meaningful responsibility, and room to make a lasting contribution.

About the role

As a Strategic Project Lead, you will develop commercial relationships with AI research organizations and guide opportunities from the first conversation through a signed agreement. You will work with researchers, engineers, and procurement teams to understand their needs and shape projects that our team can deliver.

Our work includes expert-developed tasks, reinforcement learning environments, evaluations, and data used to train and assess AI systems. You will work directly with the founder and delivery team on project scope, pricing, and proposals, with responsibility for winning new business and developing successful pilots into ongoing engagements.

Responsibilities

• Build relationships with researchers, reinforcement learning engineers, post-training teams, and procurement leaders at prospective customers.
• Manage the sales process, including prospecting, proposals, commercial negotiations, signed agreements, and account expansion.
• Work with the founder and delivery team to define project scope, pricing, and acceptance criteria.
• Negotiate terms that reflect our delivery capacity, quality standards, and timelines.
• Maintain a well-qualified pipeline and develop repeat business with existing customers.
• Use customer feedback to inform the services and capabilities we develop.

Qualifications

• A record of personally winning substantial contracts with AI research organizations or other sophisticated technical buyers.
• Established relationships in the AI research and engineering community.
• Technical fluency in reinforcement learning, post-training, model evaluation, and expert-generated data.
• Experience selling complex services, data, or technical infrastructure.
• Sound commercial judgment and the ability to manage prospecting, negotiations, and follow-through directly.

Compensation

Annual base salary of $300,000, plus a 0.5% commission. The proposed commission basis is revenue collected from business you originate and close; this basis remains subject to confirmation.