Strategic Project Lead (Financial Services)

Coastal Wave Recruiting • San Francisco, CA

4d

About The Position

Our client, an AI-driven financial services startup, is seeking a Strategic Project Lead to join its early team. This is a unique opportunity to work at the intersection of finance and frontier AI—helping build reinforcement learning environments that train next-generation AI models for real-world financial workflows. You'll partner directly with leading AI labs and play a critical role on a lean, high-impact team preparing for its next stage of growth.

Requirements

• 1–3 years of experience in investment banking, private equity, hedge funds, or top-tier consulting (finance-focused)
• Analyst/Associate at IB,​ PE,​ or hedge fund
• Strong understanding of financial services and ability to evaluate models and deliverables
• Proven ownership of projects or workstreams in high-performance environments
• Entrepreneurial mindset, with evidence of side projects or building something independently
• Hands-on experience experimenting with AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT, Claude, Cursor)
• Strong academic background; technical or CS exposure is a plus

Responsibilities

• Own day-to-day delivery and quality of training environments, managing contractors and running experiments
• Operate as a de facto product lead, shaping features and partnering with engineering on product direction
• Manage customer relationships, translating requirements into high-quality deliverables
• Build operational systems from scratch, including documentation, quality standards, and scalable processes
• Contribute to strategic and financial planning, including pricing, revenue modeling, and project economics

Benefits

• Visa sponsorship
• Relocation

What This Job Offers

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