Strategic Projects Lead

About the company

Our client is a fast-growing technology company.

The role

Raydar is recruiting for this role on behalf of our client. Serve as the in-house scientific authority for a technical discipline, shaping the standards that research-grade datasets must meet. Own projects from planning through delivery while directing groups of specialist contributors in a fast-paced, high-stakes setting.

What you'll do

- Act as the internal subject-matter authority for your scientific discipline and set the quality standard for the datasets the team produces.

- Draft dataset specifications and evaluation criteria that guide how advanced models are trained and assessed.

- Recruit, lead and coordinate groups of specialist contributors to deliver rigorous work at scale.

- Own key projects end-to-end, from scoping and execution through iteration and delivery.

- Partner with external organizations on new data solutions and support broader operational initiatives.

Requirements

What we're looking for

- A doctorate, finished or nearly finished, in a natural science, mathematics, statistics or a closely related quantitative discipline, or comparable distinction through top placement in elite math, science or programming contests.

- Hands-on skill with a scripting or statistical programming language for analyzing data, such as Python.

- Willingness to put in 60+ hours per week when the work demands it.

- Ability to work on-site five days a week, with a half-day or remote work on Sundays.

- An entrepreneurial, high-ownership mindset combined with the rigor of a trained researcher.

Bonus points

- Internship or fellowship at a highly regarded company or research lab.

- Degree from a top-20 STEM program.

- Familiarity with how large language models are trained, fine-tuned or evaluated.

Benefits

Compensation and benefits

- Base salary: USD 150,000 to 225,000 per year

- Equity

Location and work model

- San Francisco, CA, United States

- On-site, 5 days a week in the office, plus a half-day or remote on Sundays

- Full-time