What are the responsibilities and job description for the Client Operations Lead position at Surreal?
About UsSurreal is an early-stage startup at the intersection of AI, social media, and brand protection. We help top-tier clients protect their digital likeness from harmful deepfakes, impersonation, and emerging AI-driven threats and explore how they can leverage AI to scale their impact. Our clients are household names with complex needs, fast-moving teams, and high expectations for proactive, high-touch support.The RoleWe’re looking for a Client Operations Lead to join our small, fast-moving team. This person will be the connective tissue across Client Operations, Product, and Business Development, serving as a client-facing partner while also rolling up their sleeves to drive operational excellence behind the scenes. This is a high-trust role requiring exceptional judgment, discretion, and communication skills.If you’ve excelled in client-facing roles (CSM, engagement manager, consulting, or similar), can navigate ambiguity, and love building processes from the ground up, this is an opportunity to shape the foundation of a category-defining company.What You’ll DoClient Management & SupportServe as a day-to-day partner to high-profile clients and their teams, delivering proactive, thoughtful, and responsive support.Manage onboarding, regular check-ins, issue escalation, and ongoing success for talent and entertainment clients.Translate client needs into actionable workflows across operations, engineering, and leadership.Build trust with clients by demonstrating discretion, clear communication, and a deep understanding of their sensitivities and priorities.Operational Execution & ReportingLead monitoring and reporting workflows related to harmful content, platform escalations, and content takedowns.Maintain and improve our Airtable-based operational system—ensuring data accuracy, actionable insights, and reliable reporting to platforms and clients.Draft, refine, and deliver ad-hoc reports for clients and partners (platforms, legal teams, agencies).Sales & Partnerships SupportSupport the sales cycle by preparing client materials, including deep research on sales prospect needs.Collaborate with leadership on POCs, pilot setups, and custom workflows for enterprise prospects.Cross-Functional PartnerAct as a voice of the client internally—surfacing patterns, insights, and opportunities to improve our product.Coordinate closely on platform relationships, policy issues, and emerging AI-likeness threats.Support special projects (e.g., content audits, platform research, client education materials) as needed, including by identifying operational inefficiencies and implementing scalable systems and processes.Who You AreClient-Facing & StrategicExperience in a client-facing role at a startup or in consulting, client success, partnerships, talent/entertainment, or similar.Excellent communicator, comfortable managing senior stakeholders with professionalism, tact, and discretion.Operationally Excellent & Detail-OrientedStrong operational instincts - you can take complex processes and simplify them.Adept at using Airtable or other data management tools to structure work and produce reliable reporting.Scrappy, Resourceful, Technically Curious & IndependentYou’re able to embrace an early start-up environment by thriving in ambiguity and enjoying problem-solving without perfect context or direction.Willing to roll up your sleeves, from building dashboards to drafting client emails to analyzing social content.Comfortable with technical concepts, eager to experiment with AI tools, and motivated to automate and improve workflows.RequirementsIdeally based in the Bay Area; available to work hybrid from our San Francisco office a few days each week.3–6 years of relevant experience in a client-facing, client-ops, consulting, or similar environment.Prior experience in entertainment, tech, AI, social media, or early-stage startups is a plus.Comfort with Airtable, data analysis, and operational tooling.Why Join SurrealDirect ownership and influence in shaping client operations from the ground up.Work closely with founders and high-profile clients navigating one of the fastest-moving areas of technology and policy.Be part of a small, ambitious, and high-impact team working on a meaningful mission.
Salary : $179,100