Director of Data Operations & AI Automation
About Carbon Mapper
Carbon Mapper is a non-profit organization based in Pasadena, CA with the mission to drive greenhouse gas emission reductions by making methane and carbon dioxide data accessible and actionable. We leverage remote sensing technology to detect, pinpoint, and quantify methane and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions at the scale of individual facilities. All of our methane and CO2 data is made publicly available for non-commercial use on our Carbon Mapper Data Portal to provide decisionmakers with the information they need to prioritize and take mitigation action.
Carbon Mapper also works with stakeholders and decision makers to fill data gaps, lead on cutting edge science, collaborate to drive reductions, and advance education and insights on emissions globally. To do this, we work with partners to leverage a constellation of satellites. Data from these satellites will offer the next major step in scaling up the organization's robust data portal featuring thousands of direct observations of global methane and CO2 super-emitters.
To learn more about Carbon Mapper, please visit us at https://carbonmapper.org. To view our data, please visit us at https://data.carbonmapper.org.
About The Role
The Director of Data Operations & AI Automation will lead the development and execution of Carbon Mapper's quality function, supporting scientific rigor, data integrity, and scalable systems as the organization expands its use of AI/ML-driven automation.
This role is responsible for quality across the full data lifecycle, including plume detection, attribution, and post-emission quality control. The Director of Quality will define and evolve quality and latency metrics, oversee external partners and service agreements, and drive continuous improvement across the end-to-end data pipeline. A key focus of the role is ensuring that increased automation supports and maintains confidence in Carbon Mapper's data products.
Reporting to the Product & Engineering organization, this role partners closely with Science, Engineering, Product, and ML/Data science teams, as well as external collaborators. The Director of Quality will contribute to improving model performance, strengthening validation processes, and scaling quality operations in line with increasing data volume and system complexity.
This is a leadership role for an individual who can work across disciplines, build and support high-performing teams, and establish the strategy, systems, and processes needed to maintain high-quality outputs in an evolving, automated environment.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
- Lead the development of a quality function that scales alongside increasing AI/ML automation while supporting scientific rigor and data integrity
- Support the adoption of AI/ML approaches in plume detection, infrastructure detection, and post-emission quality control, prioritizing areas of highest impact
- Oversee quality operations across detection, attribution, and post-emission processes, ensuring consistent data standards
- Define, track, and refine quality and latency metrics, including maintaining existing KPIs and developing new measures of system performance and reliability
- Manage and support the quality team (initially 3 FTE + 1 contractor), with potential for future growth
- Collaborate with Product & Engineering while serving as a bridge across science, engineering, and operations
- Partner with ML and data science teams (internal and external) to improve model performance and confidence in outputs
- Oversee external annotation and quality control partners, ensuring alignment on quality standards and processes
- Contribute to the development of infrastructure and tools to support scalable quality operations
- Provide support to engineering management as needed, including collaboration on quality-related workflows
- Identify gaps, edge cases, and potential failure modes, and contribute to continuous improvement across systems and processes
Minimum Qualifications (Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities) Must-Have Skills & Experience:
- 7+ years of experience in quality, data operations, or technical program leadership roles, including team management
- Experience developing or scaling quality systems in data-intensive or scientific environments (e.g., remote sensing, geospatial data, or related fields)
- Understanding of AI/ML workflows, including model evaluation, validation, and performance monitoring in production environments
- Experience integrating human-in-the-loop processes with automated systems, particularly in quality control or annotation workflows
- Demonstrated ability to define and evolve performance metrics, including quality, latency, and system reliability
- Experience collaborating across engineering, data science, and domain teams to improve system performance
- Familiarity with managing external vendors or partners supporting annotation, QA/QC, or data operations
- Strong systems thinking, with the ability to identify process gaps, edge cases, and areas for improvement in complex pipelines
- Effective communication skills, with the ability to engage both technical and non-technical stakeholders
- Collaborative approach and comfort working in interdisciplinary environments
Nice-to-Have Skills:
- Experience in fast-paced or early-stage environments
- Experience balancing strategic leadership with hands-on execution
Location
Carbon Mapper is headquartered in Pasadena, California, but we embrace the virtual office and are continuing to grow our team across the United States.
For complete job description and to apply, visit:
https://jobs.gusto.com/postings/carbon-mapper-inc-director-of-data-operations-ai-automation-65788564-ad2b-4610-9cdc-3fd6e64c3d4a
HOW TO APPLY:
To apply, please visit us at https://carbonmapper.org/about/careers
Alternatively, apply for Director of Data Operations & AI Automation at https://jobs.gusto.com/postings/carbon-mapper-inc-director-of-data-operations-ai-automation-65788564-ad2b-4610-9cdc-3fd6e64c3d4a/applicants/new
Carbon Mapper is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals. If any reasonable accommodation is needed in our process, please reach out to hr@carbonmapper.org.