Strategic Project Lead, Manager

Shape the Future of AI At Labelbox, we're building the critical infrastructure that powers breakthrough AI models at leading research labs and enterprises. Since 2018, we've been pioneering data-centric approaches that are fundamental to AI development, and our work becomes even more essential as AI capabilities expand exponentially. About Labelbox We're the only company offering three integrated solutions for frontier AI development: Enterprise Platform & Tools : Advanced annotation tools, workflow automation, and quality control systems that enable teams to produce high-quality training data at scale Frontier Data Labeling Service : Specialized data labeling through Alignerr, leveraging subject matter experts for next-generation AI models Expert Marketplace : Connecting AI teams with highly skilled annotators and domain experts for flexible scaling Why Join Us High-Impact Environment : We operate like an early-stage startup, focusing on impact over process. You'll take on expanded responsibilities quickly, with career growth directly tied to your contributions. Technical Excellence : Work at the cutting edge of AI development, collaborating with industry leaders and shaping the future of artificial intelligence. Innovation at Speed : We celebrate those who take ownership, move fast, and deliver impact. Our environment rewards high agency and rapid execution. Continuous Growth : Every role requires continuous learning and evolution. You'll be surrounded by curious minds solving complex problems at the frontier of AI. Clear Ownership : You'll know exactly what you're responsible for and have the autonomy to execute. We empower people to drive results through clear ownership and metrics. Role Overview About the Role The Strategic Project Lead, Manager leads and grows the team of Strategic Project Leads (SPLs) who run the day-to-day execution of our customer data projects. SPLs own the operational core of each project — setup, bringing data trainers on, throughput and fulfillment tracking, project margin, payment tiers, running projects through their gates, and keeping Airtable current as the system of record. The Strategic Project Lead, Manager owns the people who do that work: their craft, their growth, and how they're deployed across the portfolio. This role sits at the intersection of people leadership, operational rigor, and financial discipline. It's a player-coach role: the SPL Manager must understand project operations well enough to coach on setup and tracking, pressure-test delivery plans, and judge where throughput, margin, or quality is at risk before it becomes a delivery issue. The SPL Manager reports to the Services lead and partners closely with the FDE Manager, Deployment Leads, and General Managers. Because SPLs aren't bound to a single domain and any project with a significant number of data trainers needs one, a core part of the role is owning the staffing cadence — allocating SPLs across a shifting portfolio and reconciling project demand against capacity so every project is staffed and running well. This role is equivalent in seniority to a Deployment Lead, with a stronger emphasis on managing the SPL team and the operational engine rather than direct customer ownership. The SPL Manager is also the steward of the SPL career path — SPL to SPL 2 to SPL Manager, with a branch to Deployment Lead and, in time, toward General Manager. What You'll Do Lead the SPL team end-to-end: hire, coach, manage performance, and develop careers across the SPL track and toward Deployment Lead or GM. Own the weekly staffing cadence and the shared capacity view: allocate SPLs across the portfolio, balance capacity against where the work is, and ensure every project with a meaningful number of data trainers and an SPL — partnering with the FDE Manager, who commits FDE supply into the same cadence. Set and uphold the operational bar: clean project setup, accurate tracking, disciplined Airtable hygiene, projects run through their ga