Echo Labs - Director of Operations

Echo Labs is building the scientific and technical foundation for ecological intelligence: a multimodal system to measure, model, and forecast Ecosystem Condition as a dynamic property. We are a collaborative and interdisciplinary team of scientists and engineers engaged in a planetary moonshot — with a public good mission, operating like a start‑up.

Echo Labs is seeking a Director of Operations to lead Echo’s operations in the UK. The Director of Operations will build and run the operational backbone that allows Echo’s scientific and technical teams to execute rapidly and at scale. This is a high‑leverage role: you’ll keep the machine running smoothly so our scientific team can focus on discovery. We’re looking for a high‑motivation personality to join our start‑up‑like environment for onsite work in London.

The Director of Operations is responsible for designing and continuously improving Echo’s core systems across project management, administration, finance, people, and field operations. This role translates strategic ambition into practical execution. You’ll be creating lightweight but robust processes that support a fast‑moving R&D organisation while laying the groundwork for long‑term resilience. This begins by establishing core functional foundations for a mission‑driven start‑up‑style organisation, and then moves to coordinating scientific teams, field vendors, and community partners to execute data collection across the UK. As Echo scales, this role will evolve from hands‑on execution to building and leading a small operations team, with clear ownership boundaries across admin, finance operations, and field logistics. The Director of Operations reports to the CEO and will work in close partnership with the Chief Science Officer, Chief Technology Officer, and Director of Product & Partnerships as a core member of Echo’s leadership team.

Core Responsibilities

• Internal coordination and project management: Design, implement, and oversee internal project management and coordination systems, ensuring clear milestones, ownership, and reporting across scientific, technical, and operational workstreams. Establish day‑to‑day operating rhythms, supported by lightweight but robust internal infrastructure, enabling the organisation to scale without bureaucracy.
• Field Operations: Build a team to manage Echo’s first large‑scale ecological field campaign, coordinating timelines, logistics, and dependencies to ensure readiness for a 2027 launch. Oversee procurement and logistics for field equipment and services, including sensors, consumables, transport, storage, and vendor coordination. Manage a team of partners and contractors to execute Echo’s field data collection campaign, coordinating people, equipment and logistics. Partner closely with the Chief Science Officer and academic collaborators to plan for operational contingencies, including environmental uncertainty, access constraints, and equipment failure, translating scientific risk into practical mitigation plans.
• Administrative and organisational operations: Act as Echo’s primary point of contact with Convergent Research on all administrative matters, ensuring smooth coordination across finance, HR, legal, and compliance functions. Establish and own Echo’s day‑to‑day administrative operations, adapting Convergent’s chosen services and frameworks to meet Echo’s specific needs as it scales. Identify operational gaps or bottlenecks early and proactively propose improvements to administrative systems and workflows. Build institutional knowledge and continuity, ensuring that administrative operations remain resilient as Echo grows in team size, complexity, and geographic scope.
• Finance and compliance: Prepare and coordinate materials for the Board of Directors, including operational updates, budgets, and decision memos, working closely with the CEO. Own Echo’s financial operations, overseeing budgeting, expense management, payroll coordination, grant reporting, and internal financial controls, in close collaboration with Convergent Research’s finance team.

Profile (You have)

• Proven (5+ years) experience setting up operations from scratch or significantly scaling internal operations in startup‑style organisations.
• Direct experience coordinating multi‑vendor operations, and managing performance against delivery commitments.
• Experience coordinating across highly interdisciplinary teams, including scientists, engineers, product, and external partners, with the ability to align diverse incentives, timelines, and ways of working.
• Proven ability to operate across organisational boundaries, such as working with funders, shared service providers, research collaborators, or institutional partners, while maintaining clear internal ownership and accountability.
• High degree of autonomy and judgment, with comfort making decisions under uncertainty and building processes before best practices exist.
• Motivation to work in a mission‑driven, startup‑style organisation, including willingness to be hands‑on, adapt quickly, and operate without large support teams.
• Exceptional organisational and execution skills, with demonstrated ability to manage multiple workstreams, deadlines, and stakeholders in a fast‑moving environment.
• Adept with digital tools (Google Workspace, Slack, Notion, Asana, etc.).

Highly valued experience

• Experience supporting complex, multi‑stakeholder projects (e.g. research programmes, technical platforms, or large‑scale field operations) that require careful planning, sequencing, and dependency management.
• Familiarity with environmental, climate, or ecological domains, or demonstrated ability to quickly come up to speed in new scientific areas and work effectively with domain experts.
• Leadership experience in mission‑driven or public‑interest initiatives, including comfort balancing rigour, speed, and long‑term institutional thinking.
• Experience navigating data governance and licensing.

We offer (amazing benefits)

• A rare chance to build institutional architecture for frontier science and work with some of the smartest and most talented experts from different fields.
• Up to a 6 % employer pension contribution, with optional additional salary sacrifice.
• Top‑tier private medical and dental insurance—are fully covered for you and your dependents.
• Generous parental leave—20 weeks make‑whole‑pay for both parents.
• 25 days of holiday allowance.
• Wellness allowance for fitness and wellness activities.

Progression

• In 30 days: You will work closely with the leadership team to develop a deep understanding of Echo’s mission, scientific priorities, and operating constraints. In parallel, you will onboard Convergent Research’s shared services and assess existing operational processes. By the end of the first month, you will have established clear ownership over day‑to‑day operations and identified priority gaps where new systems or workflows are needed.
• By 3 months: You will be a fully embedded member of Echo’s leadership team, with ownership of core operational systems across administration, finance operations, and internal coordination. You will have implemented initial operating rhythms and tracking mechanisms and streamlined workflows.
• By 12 months: You will be leading Echo’s operations end‑to‑end, with responsibility for maintaining reliable, scalable systems that support a growing scientific organisation. You will have built or begun building a small operations team, delegated day‑to‑day execution where appropriate, and refined processes to balance speed, rigour, and long‑term organisational resilience as Echo scales.

We’re bringing together top talent from academia, industry, and startups to build a new model for innovative R&D. We are committed to creating an inclusive and diverse workplace where everyone has the opportunity to thrive. We believe in hiring individuals based on their unique talents—not on race, colour, religion, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, age, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law or our company policies. We are more than a proud Equal Employment Opportunity employer. Our goal is to foster a healthy, safe, and respectful environment where all employees are valued and treated with dignity.