Head of Operations

Mecka AI is building the data infrastructure layer for robotics and embodied AI. We design and operate global systems for data capture, data labeling, and hardware-enabled workflows used by leading AI and robotics teams. Our work sits at the intersection of software, operations, and real-world execution — where reliability, speed, and quality all matter.

The infrastructure and data systems we build are foundational — they move, process, and evaluate the data that trains the next generation of robotic and embodied AI models.

We’re hiring a Head of Operations to own and scale Mecka’s global operating system.

As Mecka has grown from data delivery into enterprise robotics deployments, our operational surface area has expanded across data collection, annotation, deployment execution, and customer programs. Our data supports visuomotor learning, imitation learning, and real-world robotic control. Quality, trust, and execution are core to our partnerships.

We need a senior operator to bring this together into one repeatable, intelligence-led machine. This role reports directly to the CEO. You will be the most senior operator at Mecka — the person every team lead, project owner, and site looks to for cadence, clarity, and delivery.

This is not a process role. It’s a build role.

• Company-Wide Operating Model: Design and run Mecka’s company-wide operating model: org structure, governance, KPIs, capacity planning, and decision rights.

• Operating Cadence: Build the operating cadence: weekly, monthly, and quarterly business reviews the whole company runs on.

• Strategy Translation: Translate company strategy into operational roadmaps with clear owners and deadlines.

• End-to-End Delivery: Own end-to-end delivery across data programs and robotics deployments.

• Quality, Speed & Cost: Quality, speed, and cost — own all three across every customer engagement.

• Program Remediation: Stand up war-room cadences for at-risk programs and drive remediation.

• Customer Alignment: Partner with Strategic Project Leads and the Director of Enterprise Robotics Deployments to align delivery commitments with customer expectations.

• Operations Bench: Hire, develop, and scale the operations bench: program managers, ops analysts, deployment ops, and operating leaders.

• Management Layer: Manage managers — build the layer between exec strategy and ground-level execution.

• Operator Development: Coach existing operators into stronger operators.

• Org Design: Decide which roles are central, which are project-embedded, and which are site-based.

• Operational Truth: Stand up KPIs, dashboards, and reporting that give the exec team and board operational truth in near-real-time.

• Metric Layer: Instrument before you intuit: design the metric layer that lets Mecka see itself.

• Board Reporting: Build the business-review pack the board reads without translation.

• Risk Frameworks: Build risk frameworks across operational, regulatory, and fraud surfaces.

• Delivery Assurance: Own escalation paths and delivery assurance across distributed teams.

• Compliance Posture: Partner with Finance, HR, and Security on compliance posture as Mecka scales.

• Executive Partnership: Tight partnership with Hardware, Software, Finance, HR, Marketing, and Sales.

• Operational Outcomes: Translate research and product priorities into shipped operational outcomes.

• Cross-Functional Partnership: Partner closely with the CTO, CPO, CFO, and other functional leads to align operations with company strategy.

• Global Operating Model: A clear, documented global operating model that the whole company runs on.

• Delivery Metrics: Delivery metrics — quality, on-time, and margin — moving measurably in the right direction.

• Ops Bench: A strong ops bench: program managers and operating leaders hired and developed.

• Operational Intelligence: An operational intelligence layer that the board reads without translation.

• Executive Leverage: Founders and exec peers freed to focus upstream because ops decisions sit one level down.

Required Background:

• Senior Operations Leadership: 6+ years in operations, delivery, or general management leadership, with at least one tour as Head of Operations, VP Ops, COO, GM, President, or equivalent at a high-growth company.

• Distributed Operations: Direct experience managing distributed, multi-site operations.

• Team Scaling: Proven track record of building teams from scratch — hiring leaders, shaping org structure, scaling from tens to hundreds.

• Delivery Accountability: Owned end-to-end delivery at scale, with quality, speed, and cost accountability.

• Operating Systems: Designed and shipped operating models, SOPs, playbooks, and governance frameworks from first principles.

• Financial Ownership: Owned a meaningful margin, budget, or P&L.

Strong Signals:

• Growth-Stage Scaling: Experience scaling ops through Series B/C at a high-growth company.

• Relevant Domain Depth: Background in robotics, AI/ML, data services, deployment-heavy enterprise programs, or operationally complex businesses.

• Operational Intelligence: Built an operational intelligence stack — BI, automation, or AI-enabled ops tooling.

• Systemization: Track record of removing operational headcount through systemization rather than adding it.

• Ecosystem Management: Experience managing vendor and partner ecosystems.

• Data Fluency: SQL or Python fluency — enough to pull your own data when you need to.

• International Operations: Experience working with international teams and field deployment partners.

• Builder Mentality: A builder, not a process administrator.

• Player-Coach: Player-coach — comfortable on calls with team leads, in spreadsheets, and in customer escalations.

• Data-Driven: Data-driven by reflex.

• Communication: Direct, low-ego, high-clarity communicator.

• Ambiguity: Comfortable operating in ambiguity and zero-to-one contexts.

• Robotics at Scale: Excited about bringing robotics into the real world at scale.

• End-to-End Ownership: Own Mecka’s global operating system end-to-end and define how a category-defining robotics company operates.

• Executive Influence: Shape the executive team alongside the CEO with high autonomy and direct collaboration with leadership.

• Real-World Robotics Impact: Operate at the intersection of robotics data, enterprise deployment, and distributed teams.