Business Operations Lead, Product & Science (AI)

TL;DR

Business Operations Lead (AI): Coordinating research and model development roadmaps for an AI and physical sciences company with an accent on the intersection of frontier AI and scientific discovery. Focus on translating scientific progress into product outcomes, designing operational systems for research, and managing cross-functional alignment between scientists and executives.

Location: Preferably based in Menlo Park or San Francisco (flexibility possible)

Salary: $277,000–$350,000

Company

An AI and physical sciences company building state-of-the-art models to accelerate breakthroughs across materials, energy, and beyond.

What you will do

• Manage research planning cycles, milestone tracking, and experiment prioritization for AI and physical sciences teams.
• Design and maintain systems providing leadership with visibility into research progress, resource utilization, and risks.
• Act as the operational link between research outputs and product development to translate milestones into product implications.
• Drive product planning processes, including roadmap development and prioritization frameworks.
• Lead special strategic projects, such as competitive landscape assessments and build/buy/partner decisions.
• Coordinate compute, lab equipment, and infrastructure resource allocation across projects.

Requirements

• Bachelor's, Master's, or PhD in physics, chemistry, materials science, computational science, or a related quantitative discipline.
• 5+ years of experience in strategy, operations, or product management within a technical, research-driven, or AI organization.
• Ability to engage with primary scientific literature and translate technical frontier discussions into operational decisions.
• Exceptional analytical and structured thinking skills for decomposing hard problems under uncertainty.
• Outstanding communication skills with the ability to adapt register for both scientists and board presentations.
• Experience designing planning and prioritization systems in exploratory, high-stakes environments.

Nice to have

• PhD in a physical science or engineering discipline with research in molecular simulation or materials informatics.
• Experience in research operations or technical program management at an AI lab or national lab.
• Hands-on experience with AI/ML workflows, model evaluation, or AI product development lifecycles.
• Professional background spanning both the scientific and commercial sides of a technology organization.
• Experience building and scaling operational functions from scratch.

Culture & Benefits

• Opportunity to work at the frontier of AI and physical sciences.
• High-ownership environment collaborating with world-class researchers and engineers.
• Visa sponsorship provided with full legal support.
• Backed by world-class investors in a rapidly growing company.