---
title: 'Portfolio Ops Manager at UP.Labs'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/portfolio-ops-manager-up-labs-los-angeles-psg2hh8yxkbs'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-05'
---

# Portfolio Ops Manager at UP.Labs

- **Company:** UP.Labs
- **Location:** Los Angeles, CA
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** hybrid
- **Posted:** 2026-06-30
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-05
- **Apply:** https://jobs.gem.com/up-labs/am9icG9zdDoaWDyJG4IzDkFpDvqGiFoZ

## Job description

About the Role: UP.Labs is hiring a Portfolio Ops Manager to create leverage across our portfolio companies through practical AI adoption, stronger portfolio governance, and deeper connectivity into the venture ecosystem.

This is a cross-functional platform role working directly with portfolio company CEOs, UP.Labs leadership, and the broader VC/operator community. You will help companies identify and adopt high-impact AI tools and workflows, build systems that improve portfolio visibility and governance, and develop external relationships that bring capital, advisors, customers, and strategic support into our portfolio companies.

We need someone who is AI-native, operationally strong, and externally credible - someone who can build practical AI workflows, support CEOs, synthesize company health, represent UP.Labs in the market, and turn relationships into tangible portfolio value.

What You’ll Do: AI Enablement & Cross-Portfolio Tools

- Work with portfolio company CEOs to identify where AI can drive growth, improve execution, or create operating leverage
- Build practical AI-enabled tools, workflows, automations, prompts, agents, and playbooks that can be used across portfolio companies
- Help portfolio companies embed AI into GTM, sales enablement, customer research, marketing, recruiting, finance, product research, and internal operations
- Evaluate new AI tools and platforms, determine where they are useful, and help teams adopt them where there is a clear business case
- Create reusable templates and workflows that allow learnings from one portfolio company to compound across the broader UP.Labs ecosystem
- Track adoption and effectiveness of AI tools, refine what works, and cut what does not

CEO & Portfolio Company Support

- Partner directly with portfolio CEOs to understand company priorities, operating constraints, growth opportunities, and areas where platform support can help
- Help CEOs pressure-test AI use cases, operating cadence, reporting needs, GTM execution, hiring priorities, and company-level risks
- Support portfolio companies with practical execution where needed, including research, synthesis, tooling, process design, investor preparation, and customer or advisor mapping
- Translate messy company needs into clear recommendations, action plans, workflows, introductions, or escalation points
- Serve as a hands-on platform partner who helps CEOs move faster without adding unnecessary process

Portfolio Governance & Company Health

- Build and maintain the systems UP.Labs uses to monitor portfolio company health across financial, commercial, product, talent, and operational metrics
- Track key indicators including burn, runway, revenue, pipeline, customer traction, product milestones, hiring, and operating cadence
- Create dashboards, reporting cadences, and operating reviews that give UP.Labs leadership a clear view into company progress, risks, and support needs
- Identify risks early and help route the right support before issues become urgent
- Prepare and improve materials for UP.Labs leadership, portfolio company boards, corporate partners, and other key stakeholders
- Build templates and best practices for board reporting, company updates, milestone tracking, operating reviews, and escalation of key issues
- Help standardize governance practices across the portfolio without creating administrative drag

VC, Ecosystem & Events

- Build and maintain relationships across the VC community to support portfolio companies with capital access, market insight, customer introductions, and strategic advice
- Develop a broader network of operators, advisors, strategic partners, and domain experts who can help portfolio companies grow
- Represent UP.Labs and its portfolio companies in relevant investor, startup, and industry settings
- Attend select VC, startup, and industry events on behalf of UP.Labs and the portfolio
- Partner with marketing and internal teams on targeted events, dinners, and gatherings that connect portfolio CEOs with relevant investors, customers, advisors, and operators
- Turn external relationships into tangible value for portfolio companies, including investor conversations, customer introductions, advisor relationships, strategic partnerships, and market feedback

Who You Are:

- 4-5+ years of experience in venture platform, startup operations, AI operations, BizOps, product operations, consulting, venture capital, or an early-stage company-building role
- AI-native and hands-on; you have built practical AI-enabled tools, workflows, automations, or internal systems, not just talked about AI strategy
- Comfortable working with LLMs, AI productivity tools, automation platforms, no-code/low-code systems, data tools, and APIs
- Strong enough analytically to understand company performance, operating metrics, burn, runway, pipeline, growth levers, and portfolio health
- Externally credible and relationship-oriented; you can build trust with VCs, founders, operators, advisors, and strategic partners
- Comfortable representing UP.Labs and its portfolio companies in investor, startup, and industry settings
- Operational enough to sit with a CEO, diagnose what is slowing the company down, and help build the system, workflow, or relationship path to solve it
- Strong written communicator who can synthesize messy inputs into clear updates, board materials, leadership summaries, and decision memos
- Comfortable moving between hands-on AI work, CEO support, portfolio reporting, governance, relationship-building, and events
- Interested in enterprise software, industrial markets, transportation, logistics, aviation, manufacturing, energy, and other complex B2B verticals
- High tolerance for ambiguity; you are energized by building the playbook, not inheriting one

## About UP.Labs

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: UP.Labs is a venture builder that partners with leading enterprises like Porsche, Alaska Airlines, and J.B. Hunt to co-create vertical AI startups that solve complex operational challenges in physical industries.
- **Entity Type**: Private (venture builder/venture lab)
- **Headquarters**: Santa Monica, California, USA (Hangar 7, 3100 Donald Douglas Loop N, Santa Monica, CA 90405)
- **Founded**: Not publicly disclosed, but has been active since at least 2024
- **Founders**: Not publicly disclosed as a single founder; the entity operates as a venture lab under the UP.Partners umbrella

## Core Business
- Primary industry: Venture building / Corporate venture foundry, focused on transportation, mobility, logistics, aviation, manufacturing, and energy
- Target customers: Large enterprises in physical industries (e.g., Porsche, Alaska Airlines, J.B. Hunt, Wabash National)
- Mission: To transform physical industry by building vertical AI startups that unlock massive operational gains and deliver real enterprise value — described as "the shortest road to a faster, cleaner, safer, and more accessible future"

## Products & Services
UP.Labs does not sell a single product; instead, it launches and incubates startups. Recent and notable portfolio ventures include:

- **AutoUnify**: A developer platform aiming to solve the automotive industry data divide (launched with Porsche, described as "the Plaid of automotive retail") [techcrunch.com](https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/13/up-labs-porsches-newest-startup-wants-to-be-the-plaid-of-automotive-retail/)
- **Odysee**: An AI-enabled startup focused on schedule optimization for airlines (launched with Alaska Airlines) [talkbusiness.net](https://talkbusiness.net/2024/11/04/leaders-highlight-programs-to-help-startups-boost-innovation/)
- **Stealth AI Manufacturing Planning Startup**: Currently being built with Wabash National to modernize transportation manufacturing with AI-powered tools [morningstar.com](https://www.morningstar.com/news/globe-newswire/202504221000/wabash-and-up-labs-to-modernize-transportation-manufacturing-with-ai-powered-tools)
- **Stealth AI Freight Operations Startup**: Being built with J.B. Hunt to create logistics startups [talkbusiness.net](https://talkbusiness.net/2024/11/04/leaders-highlight-programs-to-help-startups-boost-innovation/)
- **Stealth AI Industrial Commerce Startup**: Currently in development

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not disclosed (private entity)
- **Key Metric**: 72 employees as of mid-2025, with 27% year-over-year headcount growth [linkedin.com](https://linkedin.com/company/up-labs)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Porsche, Alaska Airlines, J.B. Hunt, Wabash National (corporate partners); operates with UP.Ventures as the capital arm
- **Growth Signals**: 
  - 27% YoY headcount growth (+20 people)
  - 2.5% monthly LinkedIn follower growth, 31.8% yearly
  - Active job postings up 200% monthly and 350% quarterly
  - 8 industry-specific venture labs operating across Los Angeles and Silicon Valley
  - Workforce distributed across 9 countries (US, Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Uruguay, Spain, Philippines, UK, Chile)

## Competitive Advantages
- **Unique venture model**: UP.Labs doesn't just invest — it co-creates startups with enterprise partners who are also the first customers, ensuring immediate market fit and a built-in acquisition path
- **Enterprise access**: Partners like Porsche, Alaska Airlines, and J.B. Hunt provide real-world operational problems, data, and distribution channels
- **Vertical AI focus**: Purpose-built AI solutions for physical industries (logistics, manufacturing, aviation, energy) — a space with high barriers to entry and massive operational impact
- **Talent density**: Attracts proven entrepreneurs, product leaders, and technologists; alumni go to top firms like McKinsey, BCG, Amazon, and Stanford GSB
- **Proven exit model**: Corporate partners acquire matured startups, creating a clear liquidity path

## Strategic Focus
- **Scale the venture lab model**: Expanding from 8 labs across two hubs (LA and Silicon Valley) into more industries and geographies
- **Deepen enterprise partnerships**: Working with the world's leading organizations to compound innovation
- **Build vertical AI startups**: Focus on agentic AI, computer vision, and data intelligence for physical operations
- **Global talent expansion**: Active hiring across LATAM (Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Uruguay) for senior engineering roles, with a focus on building remote-first teams
- **Recent hires**: Appointed elite founders to lead the next wave of enterprise AI startups (announced August 2025) [morningstar.com](https://www.morningstar.com/news/globe-newswire/202508211000/meet-the-builders-up-labs-appoints-elite-founders-to-lead-its-next-wave-of-enterprise-ai-startups)

## Why Work Here
- **Impact at scale**: Engineers work on AI-native startups solving real problems in logistics, aviation, manufacturing, and energy — not just chatbots or CRUD apps
- **Remote-first culture**: Many roles are fully remote, especially for LATAM-based engineers (no relocation required)
- **Global, distributed team**: Workforce spans 9 countries; strong presence in LATAM (Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Uruguay) with dedicated LATAM remote roles
- **Senior-level focus**: Roles are described as "not support roles" but the technical layer behind AI-native companies; 100% retention reported for the initial remote LATAM team [linkedin.com](https://linkedin.com/company/up-labs)
- **Compensation**: USD-denominated salaries for LATAM roles, plus paid time off, hardware setup, and career development paths
- **Engineering culture**: Emphasis on "the best engineering problems in the US right now are inside physical industries" — appeals to builders who want hard technical challenges
- **Hybrid options**: Some roles in Santa Monica (HQ) offer hybrid flexibility; roles like Portfolio Platform Lead and Head of Engineering are hybrid in LA
- **Growth trajectory**: 27% YoY headcount growth, active hiring across engineering, data science, AI/ML, and business roles

## Sources
1. [uplabs.com](https://uplabs.com/subscribe)
2. [jobs.gem.com/up-labs](https://jobs.gem.com/up-labs)
3. [linkedin.com/company/up-labs](https://linkedin.com/company/up-labs)
4. [careers.up.partners](https://careers.up.partners/jobs/up-labs?jobTypes=Engineer)
5. [techcrunch.com](https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/13/up-labs-porsches-newest-startup-wants-to-be-the-plaid-of-automotive-retail/)
6. [talkbusiness.net](https://talkbusiness.net/2024/11/04/leaders-highlight-programs-to-help-startups-boost-innovation/)
7. [morningstar.com](https://www.morningstar.com/news/globe-newswire/202508211000/meet-the-builders-up-labs-appoints-elite-founders-to-lead-its-next-wave-of-enterprise-ai-startups)
8. [morningstar.com](https://www.morningstar.com/news/globe-newswire/202504221000/wabash-and-up-labs-to-modernize-transportation-manufacturing-with-ai-powered-tools)

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