Strategic Projects Lead - STEM

Skills this role screens for

About the role

ABOUT AFTERQUERY

AfterQuery https://www.afterquery.com/ is an applied research lab curating data solutions for foundation model development. We serve every frontier AI lab with the mission of delivering the best data to power the best models. In doing so, we can make expertise that once took a lifetime to build available to anyone who needs it.

Our customers are the ones building the foundation models themselves and our work sits directly in the loop of how those systems improve. This is a rare opportunity to join a company at a defining moment in AI. Forbes reported that we could be YC's fastest unicorn, reportedly raising at a $3.2 billion valuation. We're based in San Francisco and backed by leading investors including Altos Ventures, BoxGroup, and Y Combinator and angels from Google DeepMind, OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta Superintelligence Labs, and Microsoft AI.

Also

WHY APPLY

Massive Opportunity: Forbes reported that we could be YC's fastest unicorn, reportedly raising at a $3.2 billion valuation, and we're not slowing down.

Founding Impact: You will own and architect core infrastructure systems that power our platform from the ground up.

Equity & Growth: Competitive salary and meaningful equity. As we scale, you’ll have the opportunity to shape the engineering organization and lead major technical initiatives.

Strong Team: Our founding team has experience from Citadel Securities, Meta, Google, Silver Lake, and Morgan Stanley — work alongside world-class engineers and researchers.

The work

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Project and client management: Work with the world’s leading AI organizations to build next-generation data solutions that push the limits of model capability, while directly driving revenue.

Manage expert teams across domains: Lead and coordinate highly specialized contributors across fields like finance, software engineering, law, and more to create high-quality outputs at scale.

Shape how AI systems are trained: Design dataset specifications that directly influence how frontier models are evaluated and improved. Your taste and judgement will shape what foundation models become.

Drive high-impact execution end-to-end: Own critical projects from idea to delivery. From scoping, executing, iterating, and shipping in a fast-moving, high-stakes environment, you will touch it all.

Gain top tier operational experience: Support the team across a range of operational initiatives that will directly contribute to the future of AfterQuery. You will work across multiple parts of the business in the same week, ranging from building, analyzing, coordinating, and executing where needed most.

Who they want

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• PhD (completed or ABD) in biology, chemistry, mathematics, data analytics/statistics, or a related STEM field — or equivalent demonstrated excellence as an IOI, IMO, or USAPhO medalist, ICPC or USACO finalist, or Putnam top 500 finisher
• Background in scientific research, computational modeling, experimental design, or quantitative/statistical analysis within your field
• Deep understanding of core fundamentals in your discipline along with strong quantitative and systems-level reasoning
• High agency and strong work ethic; comfort defining problems and thriving with minimal direction in ambiguous situations
• Demonstrated leadership excellence and strong communication abilities
• Genuine passion for AI and an entrepreneurial inclination
• Demonstrated competitive success (e.g., publications, research awards, fellowships, or the medals/finals listed above)

Nice to have

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Prior experience with Python, R, or another language used for data analysis
• Familiarity with how LLMs are trained, fine-tuned, or evaluated
• Familiarity with AI tools and workflows

What you get

COMPANY BENEFITS (FOR ELIGIBLE EMPLOYEES)

We are an equal opportunity employer c

• Health Insurance: Medical, Vision, Dental
• 401(k) with Employer Match
• Daily Meals: Daily UberEats Stipend
• Monthly Wellness Stipend