Director, Business Operations and Strategy, AI Sim

About SandboxAQ

SandboxAQ is a high-growth company delivering AI solutions that address some of the world's greatest challenges. The company’s Large Quantitative Models (LQMs) power advances in life sciences, financial services, navigation, cybersecurity, and other sectors.

We are a global team that is tech-focused and includes experts in AI, chemistry, cybersecurity, physics, mathematics, medicine, engineering, and other specialties. The company emerged from Alphabet Inc. as an independent, growth capital-backed company in 2022, funded by leading investors and supported by a braintrust of industry leaders. 

At SandboxAQ, we’ve cultivated an environment that encourages creativity, collaboration, and impact. By investing deeply in our people, we’re building a thriving, global workforce poised to tackle the world's epic challenges. Join us to advance your career in pursuit of an inspiring mission, in a community of like-minded people who value entrepreneurialism, ownership, and transformative impact. 

About the Role

Join us as the Director of Business Operations & Strategy for our AI Simulation Business Unit at SandboxAQ, where you'll architect and optimize the operational engine of a cutting-edge AI + science business unit. This pivotal role drives mission-critical initiatives across compute infrastructure, delivery pipelines, and team scaling. You'll partner deeply with product, engineering, GTM, and leadership to translate high-level vision into impactful execution.

You will establish the operating rhythm of the business, streamline execution, and coordinate cross-functional efforts across DevOps, financial operations, program management, client delivery, and business intelligence. Your expertise will ensure operational continuity and maximum efficiency, bringing frontier technologies to real-world impact.

Core Responsibilities

Build Operational Infrastructure & Scalable Program Management

• Build and own the AI Sim business unit's operating system by streamlining workflows to connect high-level strategy with day-to-day execution. Ensure robust tooling and documentation are in place to support reproducibility, scalable, and compliant systems across internal efforts enabling teams to move fast without breaking things.
• Manage all day-to-day business operations and technical infrastructure, in partnership with DevOps and SWE Leads, including compute platforms, internal tooling, observability, and event reconciliation. Drive the creation of automation and dashboards for performance visibility across all functions. 
• Establish a scalable project and program management approach across engineering and client delivery defining scope, milestones, and delivery standards. Work with Technical Engagement Managers, Account executives, and delivery leaders to oversee onboarding of external accounts, client engagements, and necessary compute infrastructure.  

Strategic Planning, Budgeting & Forecasting

• Lead quarterly and annual planning (OKRs, roadmaps), own the operating plan, manage spend, and model growth. This includes partnering with Leadership and Finance in financial modeling, analyzing investment trade-offs, and communicating your perspective on resource-intensive workflows.
• Build the systems that capture and synthesize customer insights and performance data into actionable strategy. You will partner with the central BizOps team to deploy shared dashboards and integrated workflows, ensuring this feedback loop directly informs our product-market alignment.

Lead People Systems & Organizational Cadence

• Manage and grow the AI Sim Ops team while driving change management. You will partner with senior leaders to solve complex organizational challenges, translating requirements into actionable solutions and overhauling processes to ensure cohesive team performance.
• Design and run the operational rhythm for the business unit, coordinating key meetings, reporting cycles, and decision-making processes. Your ownership extends to all major internal events, including all-hands, offsites, and team onboarding.
• In close partnership with Recruiting and HR, you will help manage the team's headcount and hiring. 
• Plan and facilitate dynamic workshops that drive collaboration and embody a "can-do" spirit. You will consistently seek to improve and experiment, fostering an environment of engagement and ensuring the team is aligned with strategic objectives.

Qualifications and Skills

What you should have:

• 12+ years scaling business operations in