Data Operations Lead Jobs in California (NOW HIRING)

David AI is the first audio data research company. We bring an R&D approach to data–developing datasets with the same rigor AI labs bring to models. Our mission is to bring AI into the real world, and we believe audio is the gateway. Speech is versatile, accessible, and human—it fits naturally into everyday life. As audio AI advances and new use cases emerge, high-quality training data is the bottleneck. This is where David AI comes in.

David AI was founded in 2024 by a team of former Scale AI engineers and operators. In less than a year, we’ve brought on most FAANG companies and AI labs as customers. We recently raised a $50M Series B from Meritech, NVIDIA, Jack Altman (Alt Capital), Amplify Partners, First Round Capital and other Tier 1 investors.

Our team is sharp, humble, ambitious, and tight-knit. We’re looking for the best research, engineering, product, and operations minds to join us on our mission to push the frontier of audio AI.

Our Data Operations team powers David AI's Data Factory, transforming raw audio into high-quality training datasets for leading AI labs. Our mandate is to spin up new data pipelines and run them at a massive scale.

This means starting from a model capability we want a model to unlock, experimenting with different shapes of data and collection strategies, and validating them with researchers. Once an approach works, we industrialize it, building pipelines that can process audio with reliability, quality, and efficiency. We are relentless operators who thrive in ambiguity, equally comfortable prototyping novel workflows as we are managing large-scale production systems.

As General Manager of Data Operations, you will lead one of the most critical functions at David AI. You’ll own a major slice of our Data Factory: the engine that powers high-quality, scalable data production. You’ll lead the team responsible for building and scaling pipelines, from 0→1 experiments that unlock new model capabilities to 1→N industrialization that processes data reliably and efficiently.

• Build and lead a team of Data Product Operations Leads, to spin up and scale data pipelines, from early experiments to production systems that generate high-quality audio data at scale.

• Act as a thought partner to executive leadership on how we can evolve and scale delivery capabilities in service of customer needs.

• Continuously monitor and improve pipeline health, spotting issues in sourcing, quality, or process early and owning solutions end-to-end.

• Use metrics to drive decisions, tracking throughput, quality, and cost to guide prioritization and identify where to scale or invest next.

• Work with researchers at leading AI labs to identify new model capabilities and turn them into concrete data workflows and project plans.

• Partner with our internal research team to design and test new data shapes that unlock frontier model capabilities.

• Own outcomes across functions, designing systems, managing execution, unblocking bottlenecks, and ensuring delivery at both prototype and production scale.

• 5–10 years of experience in high-ownership roles (e.g., founder, GM, COO, or strategy/ops at a venture-backed startup).

• Prior experience scaling large-scale operational efforts at high-growth startups or fast-paced companies.

• Technical fluency with data and operations; SQL proficiency required.

• Prior experience designing and scaling systems, processes, and teams across different customer segments and product lines.

• A relentless operator with high standards, bias to action, and strong attention to detail.

• Comfortable with ambiguity and rapid pace; thrives in a “build while flying” environment.

• Low-ego, collaborative, and mission-driven, focused on team and company success.

• Experience in data, ML, or large-scale operations.

• Background in CS, industrial engineering, or similar.

• Unlimited PTO.

• Top-notch health, dental, and vision coverage with 100% coverage for most plans.

• FSA & HSA access.

• 401k access.

• Meals 2x daily through DoorDash + snacks and beverages available at the office.

• Unlimited company-sponsored Barry’s classes.