Technical Program Manager, AI Infrastructure

Character.AI; Redwood City (CA); On-site; USD 100,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading AI technology firm in Redwood City is seeking a Program Manager for AI Infrastructure to lead significant initiatives in model development and serving systems. This role demands 5–8 years in program management or technical operations, with strong communication skills to bridge technical and non-technical teams. You will track infrastructure metrics, improve efficiencies, and drive collaboration across engineering and product teams. A dynamic, diverse working environment is offered.

Qualifications

• 5–8 years of experience in program management, technical operations, or product execution in a fast‑moving environment.
• Proven ability to lead complex initiatives spanning engineering and infrastructure systems.
• Experience working closely with engineering teams on distributed systems or cloud infrastructure.

Responsibilities

• Lead planning and execution of major AI infrastructure initiatives.
• Build structures for team alignment: scopes, goals, requirements, and success metrics.
• Drive cross‑functional accountability and communication across teams.

Skills

Program management

Technical operations

Strong communication

Analytical mindset

Job description

About the Role

We’re hiring a Program Manager, AI Infrastructure to lead high‑impact programs that power Character.AI’s model development and serving systems at scale. In this role, you’ll partner closely with engineering, research, and product teams to shape infrastructure strategy, align roadmaps, and drive end‑to‑end execution for critical initiatives across training, evaluation, and inference. You’ll help ensure our systems are reliable, efficient, and capable of supporting rapid iteration as we scale AI experiences to millions of users.

This role is a good match for someone who thrives in technically complex environments, enjoys bringing structure to ambiguous problem spaces, and can drive alignment across deeply cross‑functional teams. You’ll often operate at the intersection of research and production, helping teams navigate trade‑offs between speed, quality, and reliability. You should be comfortable influencing without authority, anticipating risks early, and keeping large, interdependent efforts moving forward.

What You’ll Do

• Lead planning and execution of major AI infrastructure initiatives spanning training pipelines, data systems, model evaluation, and inference/serving
• Build structures that keep teams aligned: scopes, goals, requirements, timelines, risks, and success metrics
• Partner with engineering, research, and product to translate model and product needs into infrastructure roadmaps and priorities
• Drive cross‑functional accountability and communication across teams working on tightly coupled systems
• Track key infrastructure metrics (e.g., reliability, latency, throughput, cost efficiency) and define reporting that surfaces progress and risk
• Identify bottlenecks in infrastructure workflows and lead efforts to improve tooling, automation, and developer velocity
• Support capacity planning and resource allocation to ensure infrastructure scales with model and product growth
• Develop repeatable frameworks and operational patterns that improve execution quality across infrastructure programs
• Serve as a strategic partner to leaders on prioritization, sequencing, and trade‑offs across infrastructure investments
• Work closely with AI cloud providers and serve as the primary bridge between internal engineering teams and external partnership efforts
• Maintain technical understanding of GPU clusters, AI accelerator chips, and cloud providers to evaluate requirements and guide infrastructure decisions

What You’ll Bring

• 5–8 years of experience in program management, technical operations, or product execution in a fast‑moving, technical environment
• Proven ability to lead complex, multi‑team initiatives spanning engineering and infrastructure systems
• Strong communication skills with the ability to bridge technical and non‑technical stakeholders
• Experience working closely with engineering teams on distributed systems, cloud infrastructure, or platform development
• Ability to break down ambiguous problem spaces into clear plans and drive alignment across teams
• Analytical mindset with experience using data to inform decisions and measure impact
• Strong ownership and execution mindset, with the ability to manage multiple priorities simultaneously

Equal Opportunity Employment

At Character, we value diversity and welcome applicants from all backgrounds. As an equal opportunity employer, we firmly uphold a non‑discrimination policy based on race, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, veteran status, or disability. Your unique perspectives are vital to our success.