About the Role
This role sits at the center of a fast-growing talent marketplace organization, owning the highest impact customer engagements and driving the revenue that fuels growth. The Strategic Projects Lead carries a real book of business, works directly with founders and senior operators, and goes deep on a specific vertical (such as AI/ML engineering or GTM) to improve fill rates, sharpen recruiter execution, and shape how the broader organization wins in that space. It blends relationship ownership, commercial accountability, and hands-on operational speed in equal measure.
The right person combines MBB-caliber strategic thinking with genuine startup scrappiness and a track record of owning revenue outcomes, whether through a quota, a P&L, or both. They are warm and magnetic in client interactions, comfortable pushing back with founders and CXOs without losing the relationship, and energized by a performance-based environment rather than unsettled by it. Candidates with 4 to 6 years of experience that spans elite consulting and marketplace or startup operations are the target; profiles that are purely finance or traditional consulting without direct client-facing execution will not be the right fit.
Key Responsibilities
1. Own a book of business by building deep, trust-based relationships with founders, CXOs, and senior operators and holding full accountability for the revenue those accounts generate
2. Lead engagements end-to-end, from structured intake and comp shaping using live market data through to final hire, with urgency and precision at every stage
3. Mobilize and calibrate recruiter capacity in real time, maintaining a high bar for quality and speed across complex, concurrent searches
4. Drive revenue growth and efficiency within your vertical by identifying what converts, where fill rate breaks down, and which customer and candidate profiles compound over time
5. Partner cross-functionally with sales, supply, product, and engineering to surface customer insight that shapes how the organization scales
6. Influence demand generation by collaborating with sales to win key accounts and build recruiter depth in your vertical through supply partnerships
7. Communicate findings and patterns clearly in both written and verbal form so that insight moves quickly across the business
Required Skills & Experience- 4 to 6 years of experience owning customer relationships, revenue outcomes, and business decisions in roles that combine elite consulting (MBB preferred) with startup or marketplace operations
- Demonstrated quota or P&L ownership; candidates without direct revenue accountability will not be considered
- Proven experience managing relationships with founders, CXOs, or senior operators in fast paced, high-ownership environments
- Direct client-facing operational experience, meaning full ownership of customer engagements from kickoff through delivery, not advisory or support roles
- Comfort with and motivation from performance-based compensation structures
- Sharp prioritization instincts with the ability to hold the thread across competing priorities
- Crisp written and verbal communication
Preferred Skills- Experience in talent, recruiting, or marketplace businesses
- Background as a founder or early operator at a venture-backed startup
- Familiarity with AI/ML engineering or GTM hiring markets
- Visa transfer eligibility (OPT, H-1B transfers considered)