AI Product Strategist, Valon Mortgage
New Ventures
$130-250k
+ Equity
More information about location
AI-native operating system for mortgage servicing
Open for applications
AI-native operating system for mortgage servicing
501-1000 employees
Open for applications
$130-250k
+ Equity
More information about location
501-1000 employees
Company mission
To power the future of homeownership with modern servicing technology.
Role
Who you are
- You've led complex, ambiguous initiatives end to end. Not "contributed to" — led. You were the person accountable for the outcome, and you drove it from unclear problem to shipped result. This could have been at a startup, a consulting firm, a forward-deployed tech company, or something you built yourself
- You build with AI, not just talk about it. You've independently built agent workflows, automations, or AI-powered tools. You're fluent in current LLM capabilities and limitations. You can evaluate whether a problem is best solved with an agent, a workflow, a fine-tuned model, or a simple prompt chain — and then build it. We'll ask you to demonstrate this in the interview
- You're a structured thinker who operates in chaos. You can take a vague, high-stakes problem and decompose it into a sequenced plan with clear dependencies. But you also thrive when the plan changes — because it will, constantly
- You're credible in a room of executives and operators. You'll be embedded at client sites without a Valon team around you. You need to command trust quickly, speak with authority, and manage senior stakeholders who may be skeptical, scared, or both
- You want to build something new, not optimize something existing. This role is for people who get energy from ambiguity, not anxiety. If you need a well-defined role with clear guardrails, you'll be miserable here
- We care about evidence of the traits above, not pedigree. That said, people with these backgrounds often have the right muscle memory:
- Forward-deployed engineers or deployment strategists (Palantir, Anduril, Scale AI)
- MBB consultants who chose the digital/AI practice AND build with AI outside of work
- Technical founders or early operators at B2B startups (fintech, healthcare, logistics)
- PMs at AI-native companies who've shipped customer-facing AI products (not consumer tech)
- Independent AI consultants or builders who want a platform and team behind them
- Technical program managers or Chiefs of Staff at high-growth startups who also build
What the job involves
- You'll be embedded onsite with clients and with new markets we are entering, converting vague "we need AI" mandates into sequenced execution plans, and then building and shipping the AI solutions yourself
- Every engagement deepens our understanding of how these industries actually work — context that compounds into Valon's platform over time
- This is a founding team
- You'll be one of the first 5 people defining how this function operates, what the playbook looks like, and how it scales
- The first engagements are already signed
- This is not a consulting role. You're not writing decks. You're not advising. You're building AI agent workflows, shipping working solutions, and owning business outcomes. If something breaks at 9pm on a Tuesday, it's yours
- This is not a remote role. You'll be embedded at client sites for extended periods — weeks to months at a time. Think Palantir forward-deployed model. If you want to work from home, this isn't for you
- Run the engagement, end to end. You own the client relationship, the execution plan, and the outcomes. No project manager above you. No account executive handling the relationship. You're it
- Turn ambiguity into action. Clients will say "we need AI for collections" or "help us figure out how to use AI." You'll decompose that into sequenced initiatives with owners, dependencies, milestones, and success metrics — then execute against them
- Build AI solutions yourself. You'll independently design and build agent workflows, automations, and AI-powered tools. You're not spec'ing work for an engineering team — you're prototyping, testing, and shipping. You need to be fluent in LLM orchestration, comfortable with APIs, and capable of going from problem identification to working demo without support
- Manage organizational change. AI transformation scares people. You'll navigate resistance, address "is AI taking my job" fears directly and credibly, and build trust with operators and executives alike
- Capture context that compounds. Every engagement teaches us something about how an industry works. You'll document learnings in structured ways that inform Valon's product strategy and make the next engagement faster
- Shape a new function. This team doesn't exist yet. You'll help define the operating model, the engagement playbook, hiring criteria for future teammates, and what "great" looks like
- Reports to: CEO/COO
- Start date: As soon as possible. Engagements are already signed
Our take
The mortgage servicing market is huge but surprisingly outdated. In the US alone, it covers roughly $13T in mortgages, yet many servicers still use legacy systems and manual processes to manage payments, compliance and customer support. Because mortgage servicing involves complex regulations and many exceptions, these older systems can be inefficient and costly to run, creating a strong opportunity for modern technology to improve how the industry operates.
Valon is trying to modernize this space with ValonOS, an AI-native operating system built specifically for mortgage servicing. The platform doesn't just store loan data, it also captures the rules and workflows behind servicing decisions. This allows companies to automate routine processes, improve visibility into operations, and manage compliance more easily. To prove the system works, Valon has also built and run its own large mortgage servicing business on the platform.
The company has gained strong backing from major industry players too. Investor Rithm Capital Corp. plans to roll out Valon's technology to over 4M homeowners through Newrez, one of the largest US mortgage servicers. If this rollout succeed, it could demonstrate that modern, AI-driven systems can operate at industry scale and potentially reshape mortgage servicing.
Freddie
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
21% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Funding (last 2 of 7 rounds)
Oct 2024
$100m
SERIES C
Jul 2024
$69.8m
LATE VC
Total funding: $348.8m
Company benefits
- Compensation: You’ll receive a highly competitive compensation package with room to grow.
- Time Away: We offer a generous PTO program, sick time, and company holidays.
- Flexible Work: Remote, hybrid, or in-office. We’ve got it all and aim for you to work where it works. Where possible, we offer geographic flexibility.
- Health Benefits: Health, dental, and vision insurance are all company-sponsored to keep you healthy and strong.
- Parental Leave: Birthing and non-birthing parents receive 12 weeks of fully paid time to welcome a new child.
Company HQ
Union Square, New York, NY
Leadership
Andrew Wang
(Co-Founder & CEO)Andrew studied Computer Science at Harvard before interning as a Software Engineer at The White House and Google. He was also an Analyst at Goldman Sachs and spent 4 years as a Principal to Soros Fund Management.
Linda Du
(COO)Linda studied Computer Science and Statistics at Harvard. She then worked at Samlyn Capital and Two Sigma prior to co-founding Valon in 2020.
Jake Mintz
(CPO)Prior to joining Valon in 2024, Jake was the Head of Product, Consumer at Stipe. He also spent 7 years at Google as a Product Lead, Camera (Android/Google Pixel, Head of Product, VR/AR (Media, Communications) and as the Head of Product, Business Management.
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