QA Lead

About IRL (Instawork Robotics Labs)
Researchers at UC Berkeley have identified a “100,000-year data gap” - the gulf between what trained AI language models and what physical robots actually have to learn from. Closing that gap is the defining infrastructure challenge of the physical AI era. IRL is Instawork’s answer to it. We deploy skilled workers into real commercial and residential environments - kitchens, warehouses, hotel floors, homes - to capture the high-fidelity task data that the world’s leading Robotics labs use to train their foundation models. Read more here.

What you’ll do

• Lead Workforce & Operations: Drive day-to-day workforce management for Clippers, Graders, Regraders, SMEs, and ICs across shifts/sites, optimizing staffing, capacity planning, and throughput against SLA targets.

• Implement Quality Systems & Methods: Maintain the QMS and apply structured methods (RCA, CAPA, FMEA, 8D, SPC) to address recurring defects, calibration drift, gold-sample injections, and consensus checks.

• Own SOPs & Process Standards: Build, version-control, and continuously iterate SOPs for existing and new program launches, ensuring floor adoption and structured QA onboarding/re-calibration paths.

• Bridge Cross-Functional Teams: Translate engineering data requirements into floor-executable QA criteria, report field issues back with evidence, and represent QA in program launches and crisis calls.

• Drive Data-Led Quality: Monitor and analyze key QA metrics—defect/reject rates, inter-grader agreement (kappa), gold-sample pass rates, yield, and escalation volume—to root out quality degradation with data.

What we’re looking for

• Distributed QA/QC Leadership: Proven experience managing large or dispersed grading/QA teams across multiple shifts or sites.

• Quality Methods Depth: Strong working command and practical application of RCA, CAPA, FMEA, 8D, SPC, and QMS frameworks.

• Analytical & Data-Driven Mindset: Proven track record of building and interpreting quality dashboards, interrogating metrics, and quantifying operational trade-offs.

• Stakeholder & Communication Skills: Clear, structured communication skills across all levels—upward to leadership, cross-functionally with engineering, and directly to floor teams.

• Hands-on, High Ownership: A proactive problem-solver who thrives on the floor building processes and tackling operational challenges directly, rather than just administering them.

What success looks like

• QA metrics (defect rates, inter-grader agreement/kappa, gold-sample pass rates) show clear, measurable improvement across all programs.

• Quality issues and calibration drifts are caught early, analyzed via structured methods (RCA/CAPA/8D), and systematically resolved.

• SOPs are systematically updated, version-controlled, and seamlessly adopted on the floor with full operational alignment.

• Engineering requirements are accurately translated into actionable floor criteria, enabling smooth program launches and rapid feedback loops.

• Grading and QA operations scale smoothly across teams, shifts, and locations with balanced staffing and clear role execution.