Strategic Project Lead – Growth & Operations

Role Title: Strategic Project Lead – Growth & Operations
Location: San Francisco, CA (Onsite 5 Days/Week)
Company Stage of Funding: Series A (recent $15M raise from top-tier VCs)
Office Type: Onsite (5 days per week)
Salary: $120,000 – $165,000 Equity

Company Description

Our client is a fast-growing AI startup scaling rapidly, having achieved near 8-figure annualized run rate within the first year while maintaining strong profitability. With significant backing from top venture investors and a lean, high-performing team, this company is building the infrastructure that powers the next generation of AI systems.

This is a rare opportunity to join an early-stage company at the forefront of AI and platform growth—where you’ll own strategy and execution in critical areas, gain immense autonomy, and help shape a product that directly impacts how AI evolves.

What You Will Do

• Design and execute multi-channel acquisition campaigns to attract expert contributors across specialized technical domains.

• Develop creative growth loops such as coding challenges, referral programs, university outreach, and content-driven community building.

• Drive engagement within communities (Discord, Slack, niche forums, newsletters).

• Launch and optimize paid campaigns across LinkedIn, Reddit, X, and other platforms.

• Build and manage the full contributor funnel—from sourcing to onboarding—while improving key metrics like conversion, CAC, and retention.

• Partner with Product & Engineering to refine contributor tools and onboarding experiences.

• Implement rigorous measurement frameworks (A/B testing, cohort analysis, attribution tracking).

• Develop systems for contributor vetting, training, availability tracking, and workflow optimization.

• Partner cross-functionally with Operations to enforce quality standards and build contributor retention strategies.

Ideal Candidate Background

• 2–3 years of experience in growth, strategy, or operations roles, ideally in high-velocity environments such as startups, marketplaces, or platforms.

• Proven success scaling contributor/user bases through creative, data-driven methods.

• Strong understanding of growth funnels, experimentation, and performance metrics.

• Excellent project management and cross-functional collaboration skills.

• Bias for action, creativity, and the ability to deliver measurable impact quickly.

• Willingness to work onsite full-time in San Francisco.

Preferred

• Experience building contributor acquisition or talent-sourcing pipelines.

• Exposure to AI/ML ecosystems, human-in-the-loop systems, or technical contributor networks.

• Background at a two-sided marketplace startup or with distributed/global expert communities.

• Technical familiarity with coding workflows.

• Prior entrepreneurial/founder experience is a plus.

Compensation, Benefits, and Perks

• Salary: $120K – $165K (depending on experience).

• Equity: Meaningful ownership in a high-potential AI startup.

• Benefits: Comprehensive healthcare coverage, paid time off, and other standard startup perks.

• Growth Opportunity: Massive personal and career growth through high autonomy and direct ownership of strategic initiatives.

• Impact: Play a key role in shaping the contributor ecosystem that fuels next-generation AI.