Head of Data

Due to rapid company growth and expanding external data partnerships, CuspAI is seeking a Head of Data to lead the team and set the company's data strategy. This is a rare opportunity to define the data foundation of a frontier AI company, working closely with world-leading AI experts, materials science researchers and partnerships to drive the expansion of the data portfolio and consequent modeling capabilities.

What you'll do

• Build and own CuspAI's data strategy in close partnership with the leadership team, translating research and commercial priorities into a clear, prioritised view of the data assets needed and the sequence in which they are needed.
• Establish and maintain a rigorous, evidence-led framework to identify high-value data opportunities and architect scalable acquisition or generation pathways.
• Make and defend build-vs-buy-vs-partner decisions, and be accountable for the outcomes.
• Set up and drive initiatives to acquire and build proprietary data assets including commercial licensing, academic and national lab collaborations, targeted experimental campaigns, high-throughput computational generation, and internal lab data generation.
• Lead, grow and develop the Data team, spanning data acquisition, curation, data architecture and data engineering.
• Own the relationship with research leads: understanding their data and codesigning data strategies in their research areas.
• Act as the single point of accountability for data commitments made to the research organisation.

What you'll need

• Substantial experience owning data strategy or a data acquisition function at a research-intensive organisation with clear accountability for outcomes.
• PhD in Chemistry, Physics, Materials Science, Chemical Engineering, Computational Chemistry or related discipline — or equivalent depth of scientific research experience.
• Demonstrated experience originating and shaping external data partnerships: sourcing counterparties, running diligence, and working with commercial and legal colleagues to get deals done.
• Experience managing a meaningful budget, with the commercial judgement to prioritise spend, negotiate terms and justify significant investments.
• Experience leading and growing technical teams.
• Deep familiarity with the materials and chemical data landscape across experimental and computational domains.
• Working knowledge of how experimental data is produced: lab workflows, instrument outputs, ELN/LIMS systems, unit conventions, incomplete metadata, and what it takes to turn any of it into an ML-ready asset.
• Sufficient technical fluency (Python, SQL, data modelling concepts, ML training data requirements) to work as a peer with data engineers and ML researchers.

Nice to have

• Direct experience with high-throughput experimentation, lab automation, robotics or self-driving lab platforms.
• Hands-on familiarity with characterisation techniques and their data (XRD, spectroscopy, adsorption isotherms, electron microscopy, device measurements).
• Experience with high-throughput computational screening and DFT codes (e.g. VASP, Quantum ESPRESSO).
• Experience negotiating data-sharing agreements, data standards or interchange formats, and navigating IP, licensing and confidentiality constraints on scientific data.

What they offer

• Competitive salary
• Equity in CuspAI
• 28 days holiday (DE, NL, UK) or 21 days holiday (JP, SG, US), in addition to local public holidays
• 26 weeks primary caregiver parental leave and 12 weeks secondary caregiver parental leave at full pay
• Professional development budget