Business Operations Lead, Product & Science

Periodic Labs•Menlo Park, CA

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

Periodic Labs sits at the intersection of frontier AI and physical science — and the operational challenges we face reflect that complexity. As Business Operations Lead, you will be the connective tissue between our research teams, our model development roadmap, and the broader strategic and operational needs of the company. You will work cross functionally to accelerate the translation of scientific progress into outcomes that matter. This is a high-ownership role for someone who can operate in deeply technical environments without being a researcher themselves — someone who understands how science gets done, how AI models get built, and what it takes to build the organizational systems that allow both to happen faster. You will help with product-science coordination, and serve as a trusted strategic partner to leadership on the decisions that shape our trajectory. The ideal candidate has a graduate-level scientific background — physics, chemistry, materials science, or a closely related field — combined with meaningful experience in strategy, operations, or product roles at a technology or research organization. You think rigorously, communicate exceptionally, and have a rare ability to earn the trust of both scientists and executives.

Requirements

An undergraduate or graduate degree (PhD or Master’s) in physics, chemistry, materials science, computational science, or a closely related quantitative discipline — or equivalent depth demonstrated through research or industry experience
5+ years of experience in strategy, operations, product management, chief-of-staff, or a closely related function — with at least some of that time spent inside a technical, research-driven, or AI organization
A genuine ability to read and engage with primary scientific literature, follow technical discussions at the frontier of AI and physical science, and translate what you learn into operational decisions
Exceptional analytical and structured thinking — you can decompose hard problems, build models under uncertainty, and present findings with conviction and intellectual honesty
Outstanding communication skills: you write with precision and clarity, and you can adapt your register from a conversation with a principal scientist to a board presentation without losing rigor
High agency, strong judgment, and the organizational credibility to influence without authority across a team of world-class researchers and engineers
Experience designing and operating planning and prioritization systems in environments where the work is exploratory, the outputs are uncertain, and the stakes are high
A genuine belief in the mission — you are drawn to the idea of using AI to accelerate scientific discovery, and that orientation shapes how you approach your work

Nice To Haves

A PhD in a physical science or engineering discipline with research experience at the boundary of computation and experiment — molecular simulation, condensed matter, materials informatics, or similar
Prior experience in a research operations, technical program management, or science strategy role at an AI lab, national lab, or research-intensive technology company
Hands-on experience with AI/ML workflows, model evaluation, or the product development lifecycle for AI-powered applications
A background that spans both the scientific and commercial sides of a technology organization — you’ve sat in rooms with researchers and with customers, and you know how to bridge those worlds
Experience building or scaling operational functions from scratch, including hiring, process design, and tooling selection

Responsibilities

Support the operating rhythm of the research organization — research planning cycles, milestone tracking, experiment prioritization, and cross-team coordination between AI and physical sciences
Design and maintain systems that give leadership real-time visibility into research progress, resource utilization, and emerging risks across the model development and lab science roadmaps
Partner with the Head of Research and Principal Scientists to translate long-horizon scientific goals into quarterly operating plans, resourcing decisions, and hiring priorities
Identify and remove the organizational, process, and tooling bottlenecks that slow down researchers and scientists — acting as a force multiplier for the people doing the core work
Coordinate compute, lab equipment, and infrastructure resource allocation across research projects, working closely with infra and lab operations leads
Serve as the operational link between research outputs and product development — ensuring scientific milestones translate into clear product implications and that product needs are legible to research teams
Drive the product planning process in close partnership with founders and product leads: roadmap development, prioritization frameworks, and cross-functional alignment
Build the processes and artifacts (roadmaps, decision logs, spec templates, review cadences) that make the product-science collaboration scalable as we grow
Lead or support evaluation design, benchmark development, and model assessment processes that connect scientific capability to real-world product requirements
Lead special projects and strategic analyses that don’t fit neatly into any existing function: competitive landscape assessments, build/buy/partner decisions, new capability evaluations
Support external partnerships, collaborations, and customer engagements that sit at the boundary of research and commercial — from scoping to execution