Senior Manager, Operations – Robotics Lab & Physical AI Operations

Key Responsibilities 

Ops strategy execution: Translate business and engineering goals into operating plans, OKRs, and execution models across robotics lab environments (humanoid, teleoperation, motion capture, simulation). 

Standardization & scale: Build and implement SOPs, lab playbooks, and workflows to reduce variability and drive consistent performance across teams and sites. 

Analytics & insights: Define and own core dashboards and KPIs (throughput, quality, utilization, safety); translate data into actionable improvements. 

Technology & automation: Partner with Ops Tech and Engineering to improve tooling, lab systems, and automation (e.g., workflows, integrations, data pipelines). 

Quality & safety partnership: Co-own operational excellence with Quality and Safety Leads; align on guidelines, audits, incident prevention, and continuous improvement. 

Workforce & capacity: Plan and optimize staffing across lab environments; manage shifts, coverage, onboarding, and certification for operators and analysts. 

Vendor strategy: Set expectations and SLAs across vendors; monitor performance, drive improvements, and support scale decisions. 

Client satisfaction: Support executive-level governance, planning, and reviews; ensure delivery aligns with scope, quality expectations, and evolving requirements. 

Financial stewardship: Build and manage budgets, forecasts, margins, and change orders; align commercial models with operational delivery. 

Risk, compliance, and security: Own operational risk management; ensure adherence to safety standards, data handling policies, and audit readiness. 

Org & talent development: Manage L1 managers and senior ICs; hire, coach, and build a strong leadership bench to support scaling operations. 

Cross-functional leadership: Coordinate across Engineering, Quality, Safety, Ops Tech, and Vendor Management to deliver against client and business goals. 

Requirements 

Education 
Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience in business, operations, engineering, robotics, or a related field. 

Experience 

5–8 years in operations or program delivery in robotics, physical AI, AI data operations, or adjacent domains. 

4–6 years in operations leadership, managing managers and multi-team environments. 

Experience running onsite or lab-based operations involving hardware, data collection, or real-world testing environments. 

Proven track record driving standardization, analytics, tooling/automation, and vendor performance at scale. 

Skills 

Program and portfolio planning across complex, multi-team environments. 

Strong people leadership: goal setting, coaching, delegation, and performance management. 

Clear communication with senior stakeholders, engineers, and frontline teams. 

Strong analytical mindset; ability to translate data into operational decisions. 

Experience with spreadsheets, PM tools, and dashboards; familiarity with robotics systems (sensor data, telemetry, ROS concepts) is a plus. 

Strong quality and safety mindset with practical application of SOPs, QA frameworks, and compliance standards. 

Sound judgment across scope, time, cost, quality, and safety tradeoffs. 

Scope & Autonomy (L2 Alignment) 

Leads multiple teams and lab environments, setting operating rhythms and standards across robotics programs. 

Makes day-to-day and medium-term strategic decisions; escalates only high-impact or non-standard issues. 

Direct line management for L1 managers and senior ICs; strong influence across Quality, Safety, Engineering, and Vendor partners. 

Owns delivery performance, operational excellence, and client outcomes across the program.