AI Operations Associate

About the job

We're hiring: AI Operations Associate at Vela

Remote (India) · Night shift · 6 days/week · 6–12 LPA CTC

Vela is backed by Y Combinator, CRV, Rebel Fund, and angels from OpenAI. We're building intelligent systems for coordination, starting with scheduling (deceptively hard). Our AI makes thousands of context-dependent decisions every day.

For example: "John will take a 7 AM call with a CEO, but not with a peer." How do you handle that?

Our clients are the world's top recruiting and executive search firms. They run searches for Fortune 500 CHROs, CEOs, and board members, and our AI autonomously coordinates the interviews that make those searches happen.

Why this role matters A single error in scheduling, tone, or context can derail a six-figure search. You're the reason that doesn't happen, and the reason our AI gets sharper every week.

The role You sit at the intersection of frontier AI and high-stakes client work. You are the judgment layer ensuring every message our AI sends to a Fortune 500 executive is sharp, contextually correct, and on-brand for the search firm we represent.

This is high-ownership and generalist. Your core work is reviewing AI-generated scheduling actions and stepping in when the system needs human judgment. Beyond that, you'll help design the playbooks our AI learns from, surface patterns that sharpen the product, and partner directly with the founders on how we scale.

What you'll do

• Review AI-generated scheduling actions before they reach top search firms and their C-suite candidates
• Make real-time judgment calls on ambiguous scenarios: tone for a CHRO, whether to reschedule, how to handle missing thread context
• Catch the subtle errors that matter: wrong time zones, misread intent, off-tone language, missing context from prior threads
• Surface patterns in AI behaviour to the founders and product team
• Take on adjacent operational projects as we scale, from client onboarding to internal process design

Who you are

• Exceptional written English. You can draft a message to a Fortune 500 CHRO that reads natural, polished, and professional
• Sharp judgment under time pressure
• Sustained focus and reliability. You treat your shift like the live production environment it is
• Generalist by instinct
• Big 4 or equivalent background preferred (EY, PwC, KPMG, Deloitte) alternatively -

Career progression Vela is one of the fastest-growing startups in the world, and we promote internally. Excel here and you'll take on more responsibility quickly, with a clear path to management within two years.

How we hire Every applicant completes three rounds. 15 minute phone screen. A one hour video call and a 6-day paid work trial reviewing real AI outputs. We assess written English, error detection, judgment on edge cases, and response speed. Strong trial performance leads to a full-time offer.

Working at Vela Small team, collaborative culture, direct access to the founders. Monthly team lunches, real investment in each other's growth, and a genuinely interesting problem.

To apply: send your CV and a one-minute video cover letter to hiring@tryvela.ai. We're making decisions within 7 days.

Requirements added by the job poster

• Bachelor's Degree

• Accept a background check