Senior Operations Manager, Expansion

At Serve Robotics, we’re reimagining how things move in cities. Our personable sidewalk robot is our vision for the future. It’s designed to take deliveries away from congested streets, make deliveries available to more people, and benefit local businesses. The Serve fleet has been delighting merchants, customers, and pedestrians along the way in Los Angeles while doing commercial deliveries.

The Serve fleet has been delighting merchants, customers, and pedestrians along the way in Los Angeles while doing commercial deliveries. We’re looking for talented individuals who will grow robotic deliveries from surprising novelty to efficient ubiquity.

Who We Are

We are tech industry veterans in software, hardware, and design who are pooling our skills to build the future we want to live in. We are solving real-world problems leveraging robotics, machine learning and computer vision, among other disciplines, with a mindful eye towards the end-to-end user experience. Our team is agile, diverse, and driven. We believe that the best way to solve complicated dynamic problems is collaboratively and respectfully.

What You’ll Be Doing

Execute Serve Robotics’ geographic expansion strategy, focusing on optimizing fleet deployment and ensuring seamless market launches for autonomous delivery operations.

Partner closely with cross-functional teams and external stakeholders to identify growth opportunities, establish processes, and drive operational excellence in new and existing markets. Lead efforts to document, analyze, and refine processes for scaling operations efficiently across multiple regions.

This role requires 25%+ travel to oversee market launches, collaborate with local teams, and manage on-site operations

Responsibilities

• Collaborate on the development and execution of Serve Robotics' expansion roadmap, ensuring optimal utilization of robotic fleets.

• Conduct market research, analyze data, and build models to identify and prioritize new geographic opportunities.

• Develop and iterate on a comprehensive launch playbook, leading the end-to-end process for new market entries.

• Oversee the setup of local operations, including initial staffing, depot establishment, and site acquisitions through negotiations with landlords and property managers.

• Build relationships with platform partners, merchants, and other local stakeholders to ensure successful market launches.

• Act as a motivational leader for local operations teams, fostering growth and performance in each region.

• Create and refine scalable processes, integrating learnings from each market launch to improve efficiency and effectiveness.

• Collaborate with Operations, Product, and Engineering teams to streamline workflows and enhance reliability.

• Use internal data and market insights to design and implement localized growth strategies tailored to specific regions.

• Provide actionable feedback to cross-functional teams to support continuous improvement in operations and logistics.

Qualifications

• 6+ years in operations, expansion, or a related field, preferably in high-growth tech, logistics, or robotics startups.

• Proven track record of managing complex launches, leading cross-functional projects, and scaling operations across diverse markets.

• Ability to move quickly, make informed decisions, and adapt strategies based on changing circumstances.

• Thrives in ambiguous environments and excels at creating structure and processes where none exist.

• Proficiency in using data to drive strategies and decision-making.

• Strong attention to detail with the ability to document processes for scalability and transparency.

• Skilled at working collaboratively with external partners to secure key agreements.

What Makes You Stand Out

• Previous experience within Jira and task management platforms

• Resilient, with a growth mindset that views obstacles as opportunities for improvement.

• Bias toward action, with a focus on results and delivering measurable impact.

• Strong communicator capable of building relationships across diverse teams and stakeholders.

• Passionate about the intersection of robotics, logistics, and sustainability.