Founding Operations Lead

Zania•San Francisco, CA

4d•Onsite

About The Position

As our Founding Operations Lead, you’ll own how Zania executes and scales internally. You’ll work closely with founders and functional leaders to build the operating foundation of the company—across finance, systems, processes, and cross-functional execution—so the team can move fast without breaking. This is a high-impact, hands-on role for someone who enjoys turning ambiguity into action. You’ll design core operating workflows, run strategic initiatives that cut across teams, and help define how a fast-growing Series A/B company actually runs day to day.

Requirements

Experience: 4+ years in Business Operations, Chief of Staff, or equivalent roles at a Series A or Series B startup, with direct exposure to scaling teams, systems, and processes.
Execution Strength: Proven ability to own complex, cross-functional projects end-to-end in fast-moving environments.
Analytical & Systems Thinking: Comfortable working with data, tools, and workflows to diagnose problems and implement practical solutions.
Mindset: Thrives in high-growth, high-ambiguity settings; energized by building structure from zero and improving how a company operates.
Ownership: Takes responsibility for outcomes, not just inputs; comfortable making decisions with imperfect information.
Location: Based in (or willing to relocate to) Palo Alto, working in-person with the team five days a week.

Responsibilities

Own core business operations: Build and improve processes across finance, vendor management, tooling, and internal workflows to support rapid growth.
Drive cross-functional execution: Partner with Product, Go-To-Market, and Customer teams to scope, execute, and operationalize strategic initiatives.
Build scalable systems: Stand up and maintain operational tooling (CRM hygiene, project tracking, internal documentation, reporting dashboards).
Support financial and people operations: Manage budgeting processes, spend tracking, vendor contracts, people contracts, and coordination with external accounting and legal partners.
Design the operating cadence: Help run planning cycles, reviews, and leadership operating rhythms to keep teams aligned and executing against priorities.
Lead special projects: Take on high-priority, ambiguous initiatives directly from the founders and drive them to completion.