Director of Embodied AI, Data Foundry

About the role

Stord is building a new business line at the intersection of robotics, AI, and real-world operational data. We are looking for an early leader to build it from the ground up. This is a founder-like opportunity for an entrepreneurial technical leader who can define the market, build the product, establish the operation, and create a new revenue stream from Stord’s unique physical infrastructure.

This is a rare opportunity to create a new AI business with the infrastructure, operational footprint, and resources required to win. You will have:

• A structural advantage no startup can easily replicate — access to one of the largest real-world operational environments for collecting physical AI training data.
• Direct access to the fastest-growing AI market — working with robotics companies, AI labs, and organizations building the future of automation.
• Executive sponsorship and partnership — working directly with Stord’s CTO and Co-Founder, who will help shape strategy, engage early customers, and remove organizational barriers.
• Ownership from day one — the opportunity to define the product, build the team, establish the operating model, and create a new business line.

Responsibilities

• Build the Business & Win Customers
  • Lead customer discovery and establish early partnerships with humanoid robotics companies, AI labs, and physical AI companies.
  • Build relationships with VPs of AI, Heads of Data, and technical leaders to understand their training needs and translate those requirements into differentiated data products.
  • Own early commercial engagements, including pilot programs, partnerships, and initial revenue generation.
• Define the Data Product Strategy
  • Own the roadmap for Stord’s Embodied AI data products — determining what data to collect, how to package it, and where to invest based on customer demand.
  • Develop offerings across data quality tiers, from RGB egocentric video to multimodal datasets incorporating depth, hand pose, annotations, and other sensor modalities.
  • Establish the quality standards required to deliver datasets that are valuable for next-generation AI models.
• Build & Scale Data Capture Operations
  • Design and operationalize Stord’s warehouse-based data capture program, including hardware selection, camera rigs, deployment processes, enrollment workflows, edge processing, and dataset pipelines.
  • Partner across warehouse operations, engineering, and customers to ensure reliable data collection and delivery.
  • Own execution against customer requirements, timelines, and quality expectations.
• Build the Team & Technical Foundation
  • Hire and lead a highly technical, senior team as the business scales.
  • Set the technical vision, architecture principles, and operating model.
  • Make critical engineering and product tradeoffs while ensuring the right systems and infrastructure are built.
  • Serve as the technical and operational leader for the business — you do not need to write every line of code, but you must be able to evaluate technical decisions and drive execution.

Requirements

• Deep Experience Building AI Data Products or Operations
  • You have built and operated data products, platforms, or data collection programs for robotics, AI, or machine learning companies.
  • You understand the full lifecycle of AI data — from defining collection requirements and deploying capture systems to annotation, quality management, and delivery to ML teams.
  • You have experience building processes and infrastructure that enable high-quality datasets at scale.
• Technical Depth Across AI, Robotics, and Data Systems
  • You are technically fluent enough to lead engineers, evaluate architecture decisions, and engage deeply with ML teams and customers.
  • You understand computer vision, robotics data requirements, ML training pipelines, and modern AI data formats.
  • You can assess technical approaches, identify tradeoffs, and ensure the right solutions are built.
• Commercial & Product Instinct
  • You have experience selling AI/data products, building customer partnerships, or serving as the technical buyer of AI training data.
  • You understand what makes a dataset valuable and differentiated.
  • You can translate customer needs into product requirements and drive early commercial traction.
• Entrepreneurial Operating Style
  • You thrive in ambiguous environments where the path is not fully defined.
  • You are equally comfortable negotiating pilot terms, reviewing data quality metrics, and working with warehouse operators to deploy new capabilities.
  • You operate effectively across product, engineering, operations, and commercial teams.
• Understanding of the Physical AI Landscape
  • You understand the emerging physical AI ecosystem, including humanoid robotics, robotics foundation models, and vision-language-action models.
  • You understand why real-world demonstration data is a critical bottleneck for deploying intelligent systems into physical environments.