- Owns data programs end-to-end; scope, experts, delivery to labs
- Ops/consulting/technical delivery; data-world exposure preferred
The SPL is the Swiss Army knife ops role, modeled on how SPLs work at Mercor. They own programs that turn enterprise data into datasets for labs: agreeing scope and data access with enterprise partners, recruiting and onboarding domain experts, planning reviewer capacity, tracking output and acceptance rates and cost, and coordinating delivery with lab research teams. A lot of enterprise automation is not building the tool, it is the change management: meeting with teams, getting everyone’s approval, making sure people are onboarded and know how to use what gets built. Later in a week the same SPL might be sourcing experts or contractors to sanity-check data quality before it ships to a lab. The spike Akshana wants is someone who takes a fuzzy task, breaks it into pieces, and executes, while being genuinely good with people and customer-facing. SPLs are expected to grow into owning lab accounts and selling (right now the founders manage those relationships).
He is clear the data/AI-world exposure beats pure client-facing polish here, because data is chaotic and the environment is very different from consulting. A McKinsey ops hire tried it and left after two weeks (“a little too much for me”), while people from data backgrounds know what they are getting into and stay calm under pressure. The chaos is real and worth naming to candidates: data moves fast and is fairly undifferentiated, so you compete on execution. The right person gets excited by “we get to compete and earn this” rather than “I don’t want to come in.” Because of these opportunistic contracts, there is no stable month-long plan, which is different from a product startup.
What You’ll Own
- Scope and delivery requirements with enterprise and lab partners, including what data is needed and how it can be used
- Recruiting and onboarding domain experts, planning assignments and reviewer capacity, giving clear instructions and timely feedback
- Tracking output, acceptance rates, and cost; spotting delays and adjusting staffing or process
- Change management inside enterprises (approvals, onboarding, adoption of the tools built)
- Keeping customers informed, managing requirement changes, and driving issues to final delivery
- Growing into owning lab accounts and selling
Requirements
- Experience managing complex projects in operations, consulting, technical delivery, or similar
- Strong analytical skills; confident using data to make staffing and delivery decisions
- Direct customer experience and coordinating people across different areas of expertise
- Detail-oriented, good judgment when priorities change, follows through on commitments
- Bonus: managing distributed teams, enterprise data, or delivering AI training/eval programs
Who Will Thrive Here
- An ops or consulting operator with data-world exposure who stays calm when a Friday RFP blows up the week
- A detail-oriented person who turns a fuzzy task into a plan and executes it end to end
- Someone genuinely good with customers who can grow into owning and selling lab accounts
- A confident “winner” who is energized, not drained, by reactive, high-stakes timelines High agency and incentive-motivated