Retail Operations Manager (US based)
Turing • United States
Education
Not stated
Type
Hourly
Listed
25d ago
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From the Turing listing
Turing is looking for candidates with strong, hands-on experience in retail operations, merchandising, pricing, inventory planning, and store-level decision-making. This role is designed for retail practitioners who have operated in real-world environments and can apply sound business judgment across margin, demand, inventory, and growth tradeoffs.
Role Overview
- In this role, you will be working on projects to help evaluate and improve AI using your real-world retail operations experience.
- No prior AI experience is required.
- These projects focus on operational judgment — helping AI systems learn how retailers make decisions across forecasting, pricing, assortment planning, and store performance.
What Does Day-to-Day Look Like
- Design and review real-world retail decision-making scenarios to test AI reasoning.
- Evaluate AI-generated outputs for operational accuracy, clarity, and business relevance.
- Write clear, structured feedback covering inventory tradeoffs, pricing and promotions, merchandising decisions, and store-level performance.
- Collaborate with AI researchers and other retail operators to improve model understanding of retail operations and unit economics.
Requirements
- 2+ years of hands-on operational experience in retail.
- Experience in one or more of the following retail areas: eCommerce / Digital Retail – Buyer, Merchandiser, Inventory Planner, eCommerce Ops Grocery Retail – Buyer, Merchandiser, Inventory Planner, Promotions, Merchandise Presentation Hardlines Retail – Buyer, Merchandiser, Inventory Planner, Promotions, Merchandise Presentation Softlines / Apparel Retail – Buyer, Product Line Manager, Merchandiser, Merchandise Presentation In-Store / Field Operations – Store Manager, Store Owner, or similar roles
- Strong understanding of unit economics, margin structure, demand drivers, and inventory planning.
- Experience making tradeoffs under real-world constraints (seasonality, supply chain variability, regional demand differences).
- Clear written communication and structured thinking.
- Excellent English communication and analytical reasoning skills.
- Candidates must be based out of the US.
Perks of Freelancing with Turing & Offer Details
- Strong compensation (exact amount varies by project).
- Work in a fully remote environment.
- Engagement type: Contractor assignment/freelancer, potentially full-time.
- Duration of projects: approximately 1 month (with possibility for extension).
What Turing is NOT seeking from your expertise
- Confidential or proprietary information from any employer, university, etc.
- Trade secrets or internal company or university data.
- Specific client information or case details.
- Any information that would violate NDAs, employment agreements or other confidentiality obligations.
About Turing
Based in San Francisco, California, Turing is the world’s leading research accelerator for frontier AI labs and a trusted partner for global enterprises deploying advanced AI systems. Turing supports customers in two ways: first, by accelerating frontier research with high-quality data, advanced training pipelines, plus top AI researchers who specialize in coding, reasoning, STEM, multilinguality, multimodality, and agents; and second, by applying that expertise to help enterprises transform AI from proof of concept into proprietary intelligence with systems that perform reliably, deliver measurable impact, and drive lasting results on the P&L.
How long hiring takes
Across the AI training platforms we refer candidates to, the median gap between referral and hire is about 30 days. It varies by platform and role, so treat it as a rough guide for this one.
Interview Prep
Sample questions for a Retail Operations Manager role, written in-house to help you prepare.
How do you decide on reorder points and quantities for inventory across a store with varying sales velocity by item?
I set reorder points based on each item's actual historical sales velocity and lead time from the supplier, rather than a single blanket threshold across the store, since fast-moving and slow-moving items need very different buffers. Reviewing and adjusting these periodically matters, since velocity changes seasonally for many categories.
What's your approach to reducing shrinkage in a retail location without creating a hostile customer experience?
I focus on process-level fixes, like better cash handling procedures and improved product placement for high-theft items, rather than visibly treating every customer as a suspect, since an overly aggressive loss prevention posture drives away legitimate customers. Staff training on discreet observation tends to work better than obvious surveillance.
How do you structure staff scheduling to match customer traffic patterns without over- or under-staffing?
I build schedules around actual historical traffic data by hour and day rather than a fixed staffing template, adjusting for known events like promotions or holidays. Reviewing schedule performance against actual traffic after the fact helps refine the pattern over time rather than repeating the same schedule indefinitely.
What's your process for handling a customer complaint that a staff member wasn't able to resolve on the floor?
I listen to the full complaint before offering a resolution, since jumping to a fix before understanding what the customer actually wants often leads to an unsatisfying outcome even when the fix is generous. I also follow up with the staff member afterward to understand what made the situation hard to resolve initially.
What to Expect
Looking at Turing Business listings we've tracked, contracts in this domain typically run about 14.8 weeks. Actual length varies by project, but this gives you a realistic baseline going in.
Based on 10 extracted Turing Business listings.
Why this role
This Retail Operations Manager role is for US-based retail practitioners to apply real-world experience in merchandising, pricing, and inventory planning to evaluate AI reasoning on operational tradeoffs. No prior AI experience is required, since the review depends on hands-on retail judgment.
Talent pool
We're light on Business candidates
We've matched 55 people with a Business background against 1011 Business listings we've tracked, so most go out without one. Set up a profile and we'll consider you for a role like this one.
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Common questions
Do I need to be a software engineer to work for Turing?
No, not anymore. Turing built its name matching senior engineers with Silicon Valley companies, but it has since expanded into AGI infrastructure work and now hires non-engineering domain experts, technical writers, and researchers for post-training data annotation and RLHF. A strong analytical background and excellent English matter more than coding ability.
How does Turing's talent matching work?
Turing calls it the Intelligent Talent Cloud. You build a profile and go through vetting (automated tests, an AI-powered interview, practical skill assessments), and once vetted, Turing's algorithm surfaces your profile directly to partner companies like Fortune 500s and top AI labs. You don't browse listings or bid on work; matches come to you.
What does asynchronous AI training work mean in practice?
No set hours, no check-ins, no meetings. You log in when you want, pick up an available task, complete it, and submit; nobody is waiting on you in real time. That's different from remote employment, where you're expected online during business hours. The tradeoff: you're competing with others for available tasks, so an empty queue means there's simply nothing to do until more work is released.
What does Business work look like for a Retail Operations Manager (US based)?
Tasks here are scoped to Business, not generic labeling. As a Retail Operations Manager (US based), expect to draw on real domain judgment (evaluating outputs, correcting errors, or providing expert reasoning specific to Business) rather than following a one-size-fits-all rubric. If you don't have hands-on Business background, this is likely not the right listing to start with.
What specific skills does this listing call for?
Coding and English are named directly in the listing. If you don't have hands-on experience with these, expect the screening process to test for them directly rather than accepting adjacent experience as a substitute.
How much does this specific role pay?
The listing doesn't state a rate. The $30–$65/hr shown here is our estimate from the role type and location (see /pay-methodology), so treat it as a rough guide and confirm the actual rate with the platform before committing time.
What happens when I click Apply on this listing?
You'll be taken to Turing's external site to complete your application there. This listing links through a referral, but the process is identical to applying directly; the link just routes you correctly. Create an account on their site and follow their onboarding steps.
Can I apply from outside the United States?
This specific role is open only to people based in the United States. If you are somewhere else, applying is unlikely to lead to an offer even if you pass the assessment, because the restriction is usually about where the work can legally be contracted rather than your skills. Read the full description for any tax-residency or right-to-work caveats before you apply.