Chief Operating Officer

💼COO – AI Mechanistic Interpretability

📍 San Francisco

💰 Comp: Up to $500k base + Equity + Comprehensive Benefits

**Ex-CEOs with successful exits are preferred**

About the Company

The company has developed search, evaluation and aggregation tool for LLMs, focused on reducing cost, optimizing performance and increasing safety of LLMs. They conduct cutting-edge Research in Model Understanding, Interpretability, Evaluation and AI Safety to truly understand how AI models work and create guarantees that they will work the way we want them to. The product has been used by Amazon & Google, and they are on a strong track with acquiring new customers.

About the Role

As CXO and Head of Commercial Development, you’ll operate at the intersection of finance, strategy, operations and commercialization. You will own the company’s financial architecture and growth strategy, guiding it through scaling, further fundraising and partnership-driven expansion. This role combines strategic leadership with hands-on operational responsibility and is ideal for a finance executive with strong commercial instincts and experience in advanced technology or deep tech ventures.

Key Responsibilities:

Financial and Operational Leadership and Corporate Strategy

• Lead all aspects of financial management, including planning, forecasting, investor reporting, and risk oversight.
• Develop and execute long-term financial strategies aligned with company growth and commercialization goals.
• Manage capital structure, fundraising initiatives, and investor relations alongside the CEO and board.
• Establish scalable financial systems, metrics, and controls to support rapid organizational growth.
• Partner with technical and operational leaders to optimize investments and resource allocation.

Strategic Partnerships and Commercial Development

• Build and manage strategic relationships across industries such as life sciences, advanced manufacturing, and frontier technology.
• Lead the design and execution of customer and partner programs from exploration through contract close.
• Oversee commercial and operational processes that enable early revenue generation and long-term partnership success.
• Develop high-value collaborations, joint ventures, and co-development opportunities with enterprise and government stakeholders.
• Shape go-to-market strategies, pricing models, and commercialization plans alongside technical and product leaders.

Cross-Functional and Organizational Leadership

• Serve as a trusted advisor to the CEO and executive team, integrating financial, operational, and commercial insights into strategic decisions.
• Build and refine internal processes across finance, operations, and legal to support scaling.
• Represent the company externally to investors, strategic partners, and funding agencies.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of progressive experience in operations, finance, strategy, commercial development or executive leadership within deep tech, AI, or advanced tech domains.
• Proven record of success in fundraising, investor relations, and strategic partnership execution.
• Demonstrated ability to engage credibly with boards and C-level executives at global organizations.
• Strong grasp of financial modelling, capital markets, and deal structuring in technology-oriented settings.
• Exceptional communicator who can translate complex technical and financial topics into strategic direction.
• Agile, execution-oriented leader comfortable operating in fast-paced, ambiguous environments.

Compensation

Competitive executive compensation package including base salary, performance incentives, equity, and comprehensive benefits.

Please apply above or contact a.benhsain@strativgroup.com to learn more. **Please note due to high volume of applicants there may be a delay in response and/or inability to provide in-depth feedback**