Head of AI

CurbWaste • New York, NY

1d

About The Position

CurbWaste is on a mission: to modernize the waste and recycling industry. We're a venture-backed company with 150+ customers using CurbWaste's all-in-one solution to transform their businesses. We're becoming the system of record for one of the most critical industries in the world — and we're only getting started.
Our customers love us almost as much as we love them (NPS of 70+). We were recently honored as an SMB Tech Top 50 company and continue to push boundaries as the up-and-coming solution for waste haulers across the US.
Our core values:
• Serve our customers, serve our industry
• Be infinitely curious
• Resourcefulness over resources
• Win as a team, learn as a team
• Do the 1% more
The Role
This is not a vendor relationship manager with a ChatGPT subscription. This is a true AI leadership role owning both how AI shapes our product and how it transforms the way our team operates internally. You'll lead product strategy at the highest level while building and running our internal AI adoption program, with a mandate to ensure CurbWaste is operating at the frontier of what's possible.
We sell to blue-collar haulers who service their communities. They are straight shooters — no fluff. The AI we build must solve real operational problems, not just look impressive in a demo.
· You'll own the AI product roadmap and internal AI strategy. These are not separate jobs, they inform each other.
· You'll audit how our team works and find every place AI can make us faster, smarter, and more effective.
· You'll partner closely with engineering, sales, and customer experience to identify where AI creates real value for haulers.
· You'll evaluate the AI vendor and tooling landscape and make smart bets on what we build vs. buy.
· You'll learn from an experienced executive team comprised of industry and software experts. We are builders, passionate about solving hard problems.

Requirements

• You've shipped AI-powered products at scale - you don't just advise on AI strategy, you've built it and lived with the results.
• You have deep fluency in the modern AI stack: LLMs, RAG, agents, fine-tuning, evaluation frameworks, and the vendor ecosystem. You can go deep with engineers and broad with executives.
• You've driven internal AI transformation with measurable outcomes. You know how to get skeptical teams to adopt new tools and workflows.
• You're comfortable with ambiguity and move fast. You have startup or high-growth experience and know what 0→1 actually feels like.
• You have opinions about where AI creates real value vs. where it's hype and you can back those opinions up with data and shipped product.
• You love listening to customers and solving hard problems. You understand that the best AI is invisible, it just makes people's jobs easier.

Nice To Haves

• Early-stage startup experience preferred.
• A deep network of engineers and product people who want to work with you is a strong plus.

Responsibilities

• Define and own the company's AI product strategy, working directly with the CEO, Head of Product, and engineering leadership to align roadmap priorities with market opportunity.
• Lead product discovery, prioritization, and go-to-market planning for AI-powered features and products.
• Partner with engineering to establish responsible AI practices: evals, safety reviews, and quality standards for AI outputs.
• Track and communicate the measurable impact of AI product initiatives to leadership and the board.
• Build and run the internal AI adoption program — auditing workflows, identifying high-ROI automation opportunities, and driving change management across all functions.
• Evaluate the AI vendor and tooling landscape, own key relationships with model providers, infrastructure partners, and third-party integrations.
• Serve as the internal expert and educator on AI capabilities staying ahead of the field and translating new developments into actionable opportunities.
• Lead cross-functional initiatives spanning engineering, design, sales, and operations with clear accountability and measurable outcomes.
• Develop and monitor KPIs for AI initiatives including time saved, cost reduced, quality improved, product adoption and report to the executive team.
• Stay ahead of industry trends, competitive dynamics, and customer feedback to inform both product development and go-to-market strategy.

Benefits

• Flextime and autonomy: Flexible time off with ample learning and development opportunities to continue growing your career.
• Health benefits: Company-paid medical, dental, and vision.
• 401k
• A seat at the table: You'll work directly with an experienced executive leadership team and have real influence over the direction of the company.
• Access to frontier AI tools and infrastructure - we don't cut corners on this.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Executive
• Education Level: No Education Listed