Program Lead

This position is listed on behalf of a partner company, which manages all applications and next steps. Our partner is looking for an Program Lead based in the United States. Join a cutting-edge generative AI initiative focused on developing and improving advanced large language models (LLMs). In this role, you will lead large teams of domain experts responsible for AI training data, human data, and model evaluation programs. You will transform research objectives into clear guidelines, coordinate daily operations, and ensure that expert contributions meet rigorous quality and productivity standards. Working closely with research, product, and operations teams, you will identify performance gaps, resolve delivery challenges, and continuously improve data quality. This opportunity is ideal for an experienced AI program leader who combines strong people management, analytical thinking, and clear communication skills. Your work will directly contribute to the development, evaluation, and refinement of next-generation AI systems.

Lead expert teams and daily operations: Coordinate large pools of domain experts and contributors, oversee onboarding, facilitate team calls and weekly reviews, and ensure deliverables remain aligned with deadlines and quality expectations. Translate research objectives into actionable guidance: Collaborate with research and product stakeholders to convert strategic goals, technical requirements, and research feedback into clear task instructions, evaluation criteria, and operational guidelines. Monitor program performance: Track deliverables, productivity, throughput, and quality metrics using spreadsheets and reporting tools. Provide stakeholders with clear, timely updates on progress, risks, and overall program performance. Maintain and improve data quality: Review expert submissions, evaluate quality trends, identify recurring errors, and provide structured written feedback to improve consistency, accuracy, and adherence to program standards. Drive continuous improvement: Analyze operational challenges and quality gaps, identify root causes, and implement improvements that increase contributor effectiveness, program efficiency, and the overall quality of AI training data. Manage risks and resolve blockers: Identify potential delays, quality issues, and resource constraints early. Develop practical solutions and coordinate with research, product, and operations teams to resolve issues efficiently. Coordinate cross-functional collaboration: Work closely with research teams, product partners, operations specialists, and subject matter experts to align expectations, maintain consistency, and support successful program execution. Support AI model development and evaluation: Help ensure that human-generated training data and model evaluation outputs meet the standards required to improve the performance, reliability, and capabilities of advanced AI models. Promote accountability and team development: Establish clear expectations, reinforce quality standards, support contributor development, and foster a collaborative environment focused on measurable outcomes and continuous learning. Deliver against program objectives: Balance quality, throughput, and deadlines while ensuring that large-scale AI data programs remain organized, measurable, and aligned with research priorities. Requirements Relevant program leadership experience: Experience as an Expert Program Manager, AI Program Lead, Team Lead, or similar professional overseeing AI training data, human data, or model evaluation projects. Experience at an AI training or data company, or within an internal AI data operations team at a technology organization, is highly relevant. Team management experience: At least three years of experience leading or coordinating large groups of contributors, subject matter experts, or domain specialists against defined deadlines and quality standards. Demonstrated career progression: Evidence of professional growth in AI data operations or expert management, such as progression from expert contributor to reviewer, team lead, program lead, or Expert Program Manager. Understanding of AI data workflows: Familiarity with the processes involved in collecting, reviewing, annotating, validating, and evaluating data used to train or assess AI models. Strong written communication: Ability to communicate complex guidelines, evaluation standards, quality decisions, and feedback clearly and consistently to diverse teams. Analytical and problem-solving skills: Ability to assess quality trends, identify root causes, interpret performance metrics, and implement practical solutions to operational challenges. Program coordination and execution: Strong organizational skills, attention to detail, and the ability to manage multiple priorities while maintaining quality and meeting demanding deadlines. Cross-functional collaboration: Ability to work effectively with research, product, and operations stakeholders, translate technical requirements into practical instructions, and resolve issues collaboratively. Availability and commitment: Ability to commit to a full-time schedule of at least 40 hours per week during weekdays and maintain consistent availability to support program operations. Preferred AI industry experience: Previous involvement in AI training or expert management projects through organizations such as Mercor, Scale AI, Surge, Micro1, Turing, Outlier, Appen, TELUS, or comparable internal AI operations teams. Preferred educational background: A degree in a science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) discipline. Preferred technical and analytical skills: Advanced proficiency in Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel, working knowledge of SQL, and some coding experience. Preferred people leadership capabilities: Experience managing large contributor teams, coaching experts, facilitating performance reviews, and maintaining consistent quality standards across distributed groups. Benefits Competitive hourly compensation: $45–$70 per hour, depending on qualifications and experience. Full-time employment: A structured commitment of 40 hours per week. W-2 employment arrangement: Employment through the designated employer of record, which manages payroll, employment benefits, and compliance. Benefits eligibility: Access to employment benefits administered through the employer of record, subject to applicable plan terms and eligibility requirements. High-impact AI projects: The opportunity to contribute to the development and evaluation of advanced generative AI models and large language models. Professional growth: Exposure to cutting-edge AI research, large-scale data operations, and collaboration with specialized research and product teams. Leadership opportunities: The chance to guide expert teams, strengthen program management capabilities, and influence the quality of AI development workflows. Collaborative environment: Work alongside domain experts and cross-functional professionals in a fast-moving, innovation-focused setting. Referral opportunities: Potential to earn referral rewards where available and subject to the applicable referral policy.