Head of Operations, India

About Build AI

Build AI is the data hyperscaler for Physical AI. We're vertically integrated across hardware, manufacturing, logistics, collection, and model training to scale the physical labor dataset orders of magnitude faster than anyone in the world.

Job Summary

We collect data from people doing physical work. We’re hiring a Head of Operations to build and run our workforce across India.

If we decide to start operations in a new city tomorrow, you should be able to mobilise 100 people within 24–48 hours — and do it again, repeatedly. You will build the recruiting networks, local teams, and logistics capability that make this possible, hire high-quality city managers, operators, and regional heads, and own logistics and shipping so teams have the equipment they need when operations begin.

The job requires long hours, high agency, and extreme operational rigour. You should know what is happening in each city, identify problems early, and follow them through until they are resolved.

Key Responsibilities

• Mobilise 100 people within 24–48 hours in any city where we need to start operations
• Build and maintain relationships with local recruiters, staffing partners, and workforce networks across India
• Hire, train, and manage high-quality city managers, operators, and regional heads
• Own city launches, including workforce readiness, onboarding, training, equipment, and local logistics
• Own shipping, tracking, distribution, and recovery of equipment across cities
• Make sure workers show up, have the right equipment, and understand what they need to do
• Set daily targets and track attendance, productivity, data quality, costs, and equipment utilisation
• Hold city managers and regional heads accountable for execution
• Resolve workforce shortages, shipment delays, equipment failures, and other problems that stop collection
• Build processes that allow teams to maintain operational rigour as we expand
• Visit sites to verify execution and fix problems directly

You may be a good fit if you have (Must-have qualifications)

• Have personally mobilised large workforces or launched operations under tight deadlines
• Have built and managed field operations across multiple cities in India
• Have hired and managed city managers, field operators, or regional leaders
• Have directly managed logistics, shipping, and equipment or inventory
• Can build recruiting networks that deliver reliable workers at short notice
• Can manage daily performance across distributed teams with close attention to detail
• Willing to work long hours and travel at short notice to get operations running

Strong candidates may also have experience with (Nice-to-have qualifications)

• Existing relationships with staffing agencies, local recruiters, and workforce partners across India
• Logistics, delivery, warehousing, manufacturing, or other businesses with large field teams
• Launching operations in new cities within days
• Managing wearable cameras or other equipment deployed in the field
• Working at an early-stage company

What we look for

• High agency
• Extreme operational rigour
• Attention to detail
• Intense determination
• Clear communication
• Low ego
• Creative, not constrained by how things have been done before

Immediate rejects: inability to change, limiting beliefs, low ambition.

Benefits

• Competitive pay
• Medical, dental, and vision packages with generous premium coverage
• $500 per month credit for waiving medical benefits
• Housing subsidy of $2k per month for those living within walking distance of the office
• Relocation support for those moving to San Francisco (Financial District) or Shenzhen (Nanshan)
• Various wellness benefits covering fitness, mental health, and more
• Daily lunch and dinner in our office
• Unlimited compute budget subject to ROI justification
• Unlimited Codex and Claude credits
• Travel

How we're different

Build believes in the Bitter Lesson. By taking a general approach of learning from humans, our addressable market is all physical labor.

We are a fully in-person team in San Francisco (Financial District) and Shenzhen (Nanshan), and greatly value engineering skills. We do not have boundaries between engineering and research, and we expect all of our technical staff to contribute to both and work across disciplines as needed.

Build AI is an equal opportunity employer. We review every application. If you do not meet every bullet, still apply. Questions: research@build.ai