Head of Operations

Bagel Labs (bagel.com) is an artificial intelligence research lab building the training infrastructure for Physical AI. Physical AI is the next major frontier in artificial intelligence - systems that can understand, simulate, and act in the real world. Robotics and embodied AI companies will need to train much larger and more complex models than today’s software-only AI systems, and that training will be too expensive if it depends only on centralized GPU superclusters.

Bagel Labs is solving this by making large AI model training more efficient and flexible. Our core technology, Decentralized Diffusion Models, breaks large training jobs into smaller specialist models that can be trained across many different kinds of hardware. This can reduce training CapEx by 30-40% in standard deployments, and by up to 80% when companies can reuse existing hardware.

We are a small, high-talent AI research lab building one of the most exciting technologies in AI and robotics. The Head of Operations will help turn that research lab into a durable company, so the technical team can stay focused on frontier AI work while the company becomes more organized, reliable, and scalable.

Role Description

The Head of Operations will own the operating backbone of Bagel Labs. You will work directly with leadership across finance, people operations, vendors, compliance, recruiting coordination, office operations, board and investor support, and internal planning.

This is a hands-on startup role. You should be excited to wear multiple hats, solve messy operational problems, and build only the systems that actually help the company move faster. As Bagel Labs grows, you will also help hire, manage, and lead a small operations team.

Job Duties

• Own daily operations across finance, people operations, vendors, compliance, office management, and internal planning
• Build lightweight systems, dashboards, policies, and documentation that help an AI research lab scale
• Manage budgets, forecasts, burn tracking, procurement, vendor spend, and resource allocation
• Coordinate legal, accounting, payroll, benefits, tax, insurance, governance, and regulatory workflows
• Support hiring, onboarding, employee documentation, research travel, company events, and internal initiatives
• Support board, investor, and fundraising operations, including diligence materials, data room organization, and follow-up tracking
• Prepare clear operating reports for senior leadership on finance, hiring, vendors, risks, and strategic priorities
• Lead a tight operations team as the company grows

Qualifications

• Strong experience with budgeting, financial planning, vendor management, internal systems, and operational execution
• Strong judgment, attention to detail, discretion, and ability to manage many priorities in a fast-moving environment
• Excellent fluency in leveraging AI tools for operational processes
• Experience working directly with founders, executives, technical teams, lawyers, accountants, vendors, candidates, and external partners
• Experience managing or mentoring operations, administrative, finance, or people-operations staff

Nice to Have

• Experience in AI, robotics, research, deep tech, cloud, hardware, or infrastructure-focused companies
• Experience helping a small startup scale from early-stage to growth-stage
• Experience with compute, cloud, GPU, software, recruiting, or professional-services procurement
• Experience supporting board operations, fundraising, investor diligence, or strategic finance
• Familiarity with Canadian employment, payroll, tax, compliance, or startup operations

What We Offer

• Opportunity to work at the absolute cutting edge of the AI industry and technology
• A central role in building the company behind a leading AI research lab
• The chance to help grow a team building one of the most exciting technologies in AI and robotics
• Competitive compensation aligned with market standards
• Direct exposure to leadership and frontier AI research
• Opportunity to build and lead a small operations team over time