Strategy & Operations Senior Associate

ABOUT THE COMPANY Valon is building the AI-native operating system for regulated finance, starting with mortgage servicing. We're a Series C company backed by a16z, transforming industries that others have written off as too complex to innovate. Rather than build on top of broken legacy systems, we took a different approach: we built and operate our own mortgage servicing business managing $110+ billion in loans. This wasn't the end goal, it was how we deeply understood the complexity needed to build software that actually works in regulated industries. The results speak for themselves. We've transformed mortgage servicing from a 0% margin business into 60%+ margins while dramatically improving customer experience. Major enterprise contracts are now deploying across the industry. ValonOS is our unified platform that makes every process structured and programmable and it is perfectly positioned for the AI era. When everything flows through one system with rich data, AI agents don't just automate tasks, they continuously improve entire operations. Mortgage servicing is just the beginning of our vision to transform regulated industries and beyond. ABOUT THE ROLE We’re hiring a Strategy & Operations Senior Associate to identify, design and build the strategies, systems and processes Valon needs to successfully scale as we hit our next phase of growth. You will join a small but mighty Strategy & Operations team focused on removing bottlenecks across the business and building out new processes and functions from 0 to 1. This role will require you to connect dots and use your influence across Product, Engineering, Deployment, Legal, and more to ensure we execute at a high bar. RESPONSIBILITIES - Partner cross-functionally with Product, Engineering, Deployment and more to execute on high visibility, high impact projects spanning post-sale implementation, customer support, pricing, and operations. - Dive into the weeds to deeply understand problems and what drives them, then rigorously evaluate and recommend thoughtful solutions that we can execute on. - Use your influence to build alignment and buy-in with key stakeholders on the processes our team will recommend and execute. - Turn recommendations into reality by executing quickly and flawlessly on the solutions you’ve proposed, leveraging AI and other tools to scale your impact. QUALIFICATIONS - You have 2-4 years of experience in management consulting, business operations, strategy & ops, chief of staff, or similar operations roles at an early/mid-stage high-growth startup. Experience within Enterprise SaaS a major plus. - You are curious and enjoy going deep into the weeds and getting up to speed on brand new concepts and paradigms quickly. - You value connecting abstract concepts and thinking with real outcomes, and are excited to roll up your sleeves and execute end-to-end to make those outcomes a reality. - You obsess over how to scale programs to reach outcomes in "10% of effort"; regularly use Claude code, or similar agentic coding tool. - You are motivated by results and making an impact on the business — not individual accolades or vanity metrics. - You have a high EQ and understand how to motivate and align stakeholders who have limited bandwidth but strong perspectives on what good looks like. WHY VALON - Reshape an outdated industry that underpins one of the biggest economies in the world using AI and modern technology. - Positively impact millions of homeowners across the U.S. who benefit when mortgage servicers adopt ValonOS. - Be part of a high ownership, intellectually rigorous, results oriented team that will challenge you to raise the bar every day. BENEFITS - Compensation: competitive salary plus a meaningful stake in the company via equity, and 401k plan. NB: The base salary will be based on a combination of past experience and interview performance. - Health & well-being: we’ll invest in your physical and mental well-being with comprehensive medical, dental, & v