Business Operations Lead

CPOHQ + Knoetic AI•New York, NY

2d•Onsite

About The Position

Partner with our Founder/CEO Joseph (2x founder, $50MM+ raised from Tier 1 VCs like Accel + Menlo + 100s of angels) to build and run the operational engine of a fast-moving, AI-first startup. This is the person who turns a make-or-break 12 months into a machine that keeps getting sharper. You'll take our operations from 1 to 10 - the systems, rigor, and cross-functional execution that let a tiny team punch like a company many times its size. Our mission is to build the "Second Brain" for every Chief People Officer and their HR team. We're backed by $50MM from Accel, EQT, Menlo, and 100s of legendary angels (Adam Grant, Shreyas Doshi, and more). Our "right brain" (CPOHQ) crowdsources the best practices, playbooks, and templates of the world's smartest leaders. Our "left brain" (People Analytics) gives companies millions of data points, analytics, and insights to run better companies. We're a beautiful blend of consumer + enterprise product that serves 1000s of C-level execs from companies like Box, Figma, dbt Labs, Lyft, Notion, and OpenAI.

Requirements

You can speak engineering. You don't write the code, but you can sit with eng, scope the work, QA it, and keep a roadmap moving without slowing anyone down.
You're AI-native. AI is part of how you think and work - you've found tools and automations that 95% of your peers don't understand yet, and they make you dramatically more productive.
You're quantitative and systems-savvy. Sharp with spreadsheets, dangerous with modern tools, and you decide from metrics, not vibes. You can ship an automation or a dashboard without waiting on eng.
The operator with elite training. A few years at a top consulting firm or bank (MBB / top-tier or equivalent), where you climbed fast, then moved into a startup and operated in the trenches. The rigor of a top firm, the scrappiness of a startup.
The startup-grown generalist. You've spent your career inside high-growth startups (Series A/B/C), started junior, and earned your way up as the person who gets things done across every function.
4-7 years as a top performer in roles that demand extreme rigor and intensity, with 12+ months (ideally more) in a scrappy 0-1 environment where you saw firsthand how engineering, product, and design actually work together.

Nice To Haves

Product analytics tools like PostHog.

Responsibilities

Project manage every workstream. Drive execution across the whole company so ideas turn into shipped work, on time, with no dropped balls. You're the connective tissue between functions.
Drive the engineering and product roadmap. Work shoulder-to-shoulder with our technical lead to keep eng, product, and design moving - scoping work, QA-ing on production, triaging fixes, and closing the loop - so Joseph stays focused on the highest-leverage bets.
Run on metrics. Own the company's source of truth - the dashboards and definitions leadership steers by - and the data plumbing (PostHog, HubSpot) that keeps it honest.
Bring operational rigor. Install the cadences, systems, and accountability a fast team needs to scale without breaking.
Make "how we work" agent-first. Wire up the automations, agents, and pipelines that let a tiny team do the work of a much bigger one, with zero added headcount.
Scale what works from 1 to 10. Turn operations held together by heroics today into repeatable systems.
Own the product roadmap's execution. Keep eng, product, and design in lockstep - scope, QA, ship - and own the rollout end to end.
Drive product PMF sprints. Set the goal, define the metrics, and rally the team around it week over week.
Own the metrics & analytics stack. The single source of truth - dashboards, retention curves, and the automation that keeps our data systems in sync.
Own the GTM & automation stack. Stand up the tools and AI workflows (N8N, Clay, HubSpot, MCPs, and whatever ships next) with zero eng support.
Manage flagship events. ELEVATE (our in-person CPO conference) and CPOHQ roundtables & dinners, end to end.
Manage hiring & onboarding. Source, close, and onboard engineers, operators, and other key hires as we grow.