Data Operations

The role

We're looking for a Data Annotation Lead to own our annotation operation end-to-end and build the team behind it. This is a lead / player-coach role with a heavy PM lean: you'll set the framework, quality bar, and tooling for annotation, turn ambiguous research requests into crisp guidelines, and scale a workforce that can pivot fast without dropping quality. You'll sit at the seam of ML/CV, product, and operations.

What you'll do

Own annotation operations end-to-end — quality, throughput, and cost per delivered hour

Build and lead the in-house annotation team; own the in-house vs. partner/BPO mix and manage external vendors where used

Translate research and client requirements into clear annotation guidelines, taxonomies, and QA rubrics

Stand up the quality system: audits, inter-annotator agreement, golden sets, reviewer scorecards, escalation paths

Partner with ML/CV and product to spec and pilot new annotation task types for fast-moving experiments

Drive AI-assisted labeling (model pre-labels → human correction) to raise throughput and cut cost

Own the metrics — dashboards on quality and volume — and report the state of annotation to leadership

Stay in the weeds: annotate yourself whenever a new task type is being designed

What you'll bring

Direct experience in data annotation / labeling (required — the thing we care most about)

Ideal background in data collection, physical AI / robotics, or text annotation

Proven people and operations leadership — you've built or scaled a team or function

PM instincts: ruthless prioritization of competing requests, organized execution under ambiguity, strong stakeholder management across annotators, engineering, and clients

Clear written and verbal communication — your guidelines are the source of truth for the team

Comfort with annotation tooling and the ability to leverage AI coding tools to build internal trackers/dashboards (no formal CS background required)

Intermediate understanding of ML and how annotation quality drives model performance

A level of hardcore-ness while still treating people like people

Nice to have

Previously led a data annotation team, or were a top-tier annotator yourself

Vendor / BPO management experience, ideally where quality was the primary lever

Familiarity with text annotation styles and video concepts (frame rate, keypoints, bounding boxes, temporal segments)

Experience managing distributed or offshore teams