Strategic Project Lead
US$150,000 – US$200,000 / yr base salary
Posted 12 Oct 2026
Advertised as “Founding Strategic Project Lead”
BranchFactor Summary
The original posting with the fluff stripped out
- Expected experience
- 2+ yrs
- Management level
- Individual contributor
- Contract
- Full-time
| Base salary | US$150,000 – US$200,000 / yr |
|---|
Location: San Francisco, CA
Work Model: In-person
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