Feeny
Physical Intelligence

General Manager, Research Operations at Physical Intelligence (San Francisco, CA)

Physical Intelligence· San Francisco, CA·

Role details

Work type
Onsite
Employment
Full-Time
Level
Manager

Job description

General Manager, Research Operations

Who We Are

Physical Intelligence is bringing general-purpose AI into the physical world. We are a group of engineers, scientists, roboticists, and company builders developing foundation models and learning algorithms to power the robots of today and the physically-actuated devices of the future.

High-quality data is the fuel for that mission. Our operations teams bring together people, robots, environments, and processes to produce the data our models need.

The Team Research Operations supports the hands-on work behind our research, from collecting and evaluating data to testing and deploying our own tools and systems. The work changes quickly as our research evolves, so the team needs to be both highly organized and adaptable. The Research Operations GM leads the people and managers doing this work. They ensure teams are staffed effectively, build strong managers, and create an organization where people can perform at a high level and grow.

In this role you will

  • Lead and develop a large operations team and its managers.
  • Own staffing, performance, retention, and day-to-day operations.
  • Make sure people and resources are focused on the highest-priority work.
  • Build training and development programs that improve performance and prepare people for more complex research and deployment work.
  • Use data to identify problems and improve quality, productivity, and how the team operates.
  • Work closely with researchers and engineers to adapt the operation as their needs change.

What We Hope You'll Bring

  • 7+ years leading large, high-output operations teams, ideally involving physical or hands-on work.
  • Experience managing and developing managers and team leads.
  • A track record of improving quality, productivity, and retention at scale.
  • Strong judgment around staffing, prioritization, and performance.
  • Experience building teams where strong people stay and grow.
  • Comfort working in a fast-changing, technical environment.

Bonus Points

  • Experience in robotics, hardware, manufacturing, logistics, or other complex physical operations.
  • Experience supporting research or engineering teams.
  • Experience building training and career development programs.
  • Experience with data collection, eval, or deployment operations.

Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

Why work at Physical Intelligence

  • Culture: Described as a “pure company” – internally driven by research needs, not external market demands. Highly collaborative, with a mix of engineers, scientists, and roboticists working together.
  • Work Environment: Hybrid/in-office – most roles require on-site presence in San Francisco (396 Treat Ave), though some remote flexibility exists. In-office setting with a “no reception” vibe, open lab space with robot stations.
  • Growth: Team has scaled from ~80 (Jan 2026) to 163 (mid-2026) and is still hiring across research, ML infra, hardware, and engineering roles. Plans to grow “as slowly as possible” to maintain quality.
  • Perks & Engineering Highlights: Access to cutting-edge robotics hardware and compute resources; opportunity to publish research and open-source code; exposure to a wide variety of real-world automation challenges (e.g., robots learning to fold pants, peel vegetables, make espresso). Employees come from top institutions like Berkeley, Stanford, Google, NVIDIA, and Anduril.

Application questions