Specific Labs — Founding Strategic Projects Lead

Specific Labs — Founding Strategic Projects Lead Type: Full-time | On-site | San Francisco, CA Compensation: $120,000–$200,000 base + 5% commission on project margin (uncapped) + 0.5%–1.5% founding-tier equity Hiring count: 1 Visa sponsorship: None available Reports to: Sid (Co-Founder, delivery; ex-Intel AI research) — no LinkedIn provided About Specific Labs Specific Labs (formerly Bear) provides voice data and enterprise data to frontier AI labs. The voice side runs a network across 15 countries with the highest-quality data in Japanese and Arabic; the enterprise side partners with products and buys company data to build rich, real-world RL environments rather than synthetic ones. YC-backed, $4M raised, $80K MRR (~$1M ARR annualized), working with top voice labs and frontier labs. Founders are Janak (ex-Coinbase; built a product that was acquired) and Sid (AI research at Intel). The team today is the two co-founders plus an active first engineering hire — this is the first operations hire. Founded: 2025 | Team size: 1–10 (Seed) | Total funding: $4M Industry: AI Tools / AI data Website: withspecific.com Office: San Francisco, CA Why Candidates Should Join Founding-tier ownership: First operations hire — you represent ~30% of the company on day one and shape the culture directly. Fast trajectory: Clear path to Senior SPL or GM if delivery goes well. Uncapped upside: 5% commission on project margin (uncapped) plus 0.5–1.5% founding equity, on top of a $120–200K base. Real traction: YC-backed with live revenue (~$1M ARR) and frontier-lab customers. Genuinely creative work: Sourcing rare-language audio and novel data through unconventional channels — not running a standard marketplace. Intake Call Summary Reconstructed from intake-derived notes in the posting — the intake video itself was not transcribable. Confirm with David before relying on these as verbatim intake points. First operations hire; the new hire represents ~30% of the company and contributes to culture from day one. Janak (co-founder) direct: candidates building ops from scratch need at least some grounding in human data delivery — prior human-data experience is a genuine must, not a nice-to-have. The candidate who previously fell through was a statistics major with consulting experience and data work — that profile is the target. Mercor alumni are a strong target pool; Mercor candidates often want out and Specific Labs is positioned as a direct culture upgrade. Commission economics: 5% margin per project, tied directly to delivery quality and speed — frame uncapped upside for strong delivery. Hard logistics: SF in-person 5.5 days/week; relocation supported from NY or LA; no visa sponsorship. The take-home is the real signal: given a budget, source ~1–2 hours of rare-language audio + transcription. Tests creativity and execution. The Role Specific Labs is hiring its first Strategic Projects Lead to own delivery for frontier-lab projects end-to-end — working directly with labs, managing contributors, building delivery ops from the ground up, and sourcing rare data through creative channels when standard playbooks won't work. What You'll Be Doing Deliver multiple datasets to frontier AI labs end-to-end (source, qualify, manage contributors, ship). Build delivery ops from scratch: processes, contributor management, quality control. Get creative on hard sources: rare languages, niche audio (people talking to AI agents), regulated data. Leverage and grow Specific Labs' contributor network and partner products. Manage commission economics: 5% margin on each project, directly tied to delivery quality and speed. Tech stack: N/A — operations / delivery role; no specified engineering stack. Requirements 0-5 years, high slope, some human data experience Detail-oriented, ops-from-zero executor Creative sourcing: rare languages, niche audio $120-200K base + 5% commission uncapped 5.5 days a week, SF in-person Relocation supported from NY or LA Green Flags Prior experience at a human data company (Mercor especially, plus Surge, Scale, Turing, Micro1, Scalar AI Labs). Mercor candidates often want out and Specific Labs is a direct upgrade on culture. Statistics, data science, or technical major. The candidate who fell through was a statistics major with consulting experience and data work. Creative sourcing track record: has personally built unconventional pipelines (Facebook group recruiting, partner negotiation, niche language networks). Equity-first mindset Personable and fun. Red Flags Too senior Dishonesty or any history of being dishonest in a prior role Money-first motivation over building / equity. Cannot source creatively. Anyone who needs a defined playbook to operate will not deliver in this role. Not willing to be in SF in-person 5.5 days a week (or relocate from NY/LA). Role Details Salary$120,000–$200,000 baseCommission5% on project margin (uncapped)Equity0.5%–1.5% (founding-tier)On-site policySF in-person, 5.5 days/week; relocation supported from NY or LAVisa sponsorshipNone availableEmployment typeFull-timeLocationSan Francisco, CA Note: the Job Details card listed equity as 0%–1%; the compensation line listed 0.5%–1.5% founding-tier. Using 0.5%–1.5% — confirm with David. Benefits & perks: $120–200K base + 5% commission on margin (uncapped) + 0.5–1.5% founding-tier equity · DoorDash meal stipend · gym in building · health insurance. Screening Questions None provided on the role page. Confirm with David whether any screening questions apply before the screening call. Interview Process Stage 1 — Pending Approval — Candidates awaiting initial approval. Stage 2 — Initial Screen Stage 3 — Take-Home Assignment (~3 days) — Given a budget, source ~1–2 hours of rare-language audio + transcription. Tests creativity and execution. Stage 4 — Culture-Fit Chat Stage 5 — On-Site Day in SF Stage 6 — Offer Extended Stage 7 — Candidate Hired — Candidate accepts and starts. Ideal Companies & Backgrounds Updated June 24, 2026 Human data companies — Mercor (especially), Surge, Scale, Turing, Micro1, Scalar AI Labs, AfterQuery Adjacent backgrounds — Statistics / data science / technical PM; consulting or IB with operations/founding interest; multilingual or strong cross-cultural networks Ideal Candidate Profiles For reference only — do not source these specific profiles. None with LinkedIn links provided on the role page. Rejected Candidate Feedback A prior candidate fell through; profile was a statistics major with consulting experience and data work (cited as the desirable profile type, not as a rejection reason). No detailed rejection feedback was provided on the page.