Manager of Strategy Operations, Justworks
Payroll
$155-171.1k
Business operations platform
Be an early applicant
Business operations platform
1001+ employees
Be an early applicant
$155-171.1k
1001+ employees
Company mission
To help entrepreneurs and businesses grow with confidence.
Role
Who you are
- You thrive in creation environments where new products, services, and operating models are still taking shape
- You are energized by building something from the ground up, while also bringing enough structure and discipline to ensure progress, learning, and accountability
- You are comfortable rolling up your sleeves to drive execution, while keeping an eye on the longer-term systems and capabilities the Payroll business will need
- You bring strong business acumen, execution rigor, and cross-functional collaboration skills
- You are motivated by helping leaders make better decisions, aligning teams around shared priorities, and building the foundations for a scalable, profitable Payroll business
- Minimum 5 years of professional experience, ideally in program/project management, strategy operations, and/or consulting
- Minimum 1+ Years with Justworks highly preferred
- Experience in SaaS, fintech, B2B services, or other regulated or operationally complex environments preferred
- High business and financial acumen; comfort working with KPIs, unit economics, and performance metrics
- Strong analytical skills and familiarity with data tools (e.g., Excel, SQL)
- Record of exceptional performance and demonstrated excellence in leadership of cross-functional projects
- Demonstrated ability to succeed and thrive in an entrepreneurial environment and not be hindered by ambiguity or competing priorities
- Strong analytical and communication skills
- Passionate about solving complex problems. Will rely on business acumen, strategic mindset, systems thinking, and underlying data to help steer conversations and decision-making
- Strong sense of ownership, ability to proactively remove obstacles, and willingness to go above and beyond to chase down loose ends that lead to outstanding results
- Focus on results and outcome, not just process. Have experience establishing processes that are appropriate and effective
- Creative problem solver, effective negotiator, and results-oriented team player
- Unquestionable professional ethics, strong judgment, trustworthiness, and commitment to excellence
What the job involves
- Reporting to the Head of Payroll, the Manager, Strategy Operations – Payroll is a strategic operator who helps the Payroll business execute effectively as it is being built and scaled
- You work at the intersection of strategy, execution, and operating design – translating ambitious goals into clear plans, operating rhythms, and mechanisms that enable Payroll to grow sustainably
- What You Will Work On:
- Running Operating Systems (~70%):
- Operate and continuously improve the core execution rhythms for the Payroll business, including planning cycles, prioritization forums, operating cadences, and performance tracking
- Translate Payroll strategy and business objectives into clear goals, workplans, milestones, and accountability mechanisms
- Create visibility into priorities, progress, risks, and trade-offs across Payroll initiatives
- Support the development of scalable processes, tooling, and services that reduce operational complexity and improve cost-to-serve
- Ensure alignment between Payroll execution and enterprise-level planning, financial, and operating forums
- Introduce lightweight structure that enables speed and learning without slowing down innovation
- Leading Cross-Functional Workstreams & Initiatives (~20%):
- Own defined workstreams within high-priority Payroll initiatives focused on scalability, customer experience, retention, and financial performance
- Partner closely with Technology, Operations, Product, Finance, and Revenue to coordinate dependencies and drive execution
- Translate strategic ideas (e.g., new services, product capabilities, monetization approaches) into executable plans
- Identify gaps, risks, or misalignments in execution and drive resolution through strong collaboration and influence
- Support experimentation and iteration as Payroll tests and refines new offerings and ways of working
- Structure, Clarity, & Team Enablement (~10%):
- Bring structure to ambiguous, early-stage problems by clarifying scope, success criteria, and next steps
- Develop clear documentation, operating artifacts, and narratives that help teams stay aligned
- Support leaders in evangelizing Payroll as a business unit by grounding discussions in data, financial impact, and customer outcomes
- Reinforce a culture of ownership, accountability, and continuous improvement as the Payroll organization matures
- Help teams balance short-term delivery with longer-term capability building
- In this role, success looks like: Payroll executes with increasing clarity and momentum, cross-functional teams are aligned around shared priorities, and the business builds scalable systems that support growth, retention, and strong financial performance
Our take
Justworks operates in an increasingly crowded space of all-in-one business operation suites, that include tools like human resources, payroll, employee management, benefits, and others that businesses critically need to operate as they scale.
Globally, human resource management has become an extremely fertile field, creating great opportunity for Justworks to continue to grow. The company is regarded as a market leader, but does see competition in the shape of Paychex Flex, Rippling, Paylocity, and TriNet, among others.
Justworks' solutions have proven extremely popular with SMEs, and this has not gone unnoticed by investors - with the company picking up considerable amounts of funding. The company is known to have sights on going public, though these were delayed somewhat by market conditions. That said, it has continued to expand operations and acquired Via in 2024, signalling that its going strong.
Steph
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
24% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Funding (last 2 of 7 rounds)
Nov 2023
$16.9m
LATE VC
Jan 2020
$50m
SERIES E
Total funding: $159.9m
Company benefits
- Paid volunteer work
- Paid parental leave
- Work from home opportunities
- Medical, dental, and vision insurance, plus access to One Medical, Kindbody, and Teladoc
- Premium access to Headspace, ClassPass stipends, and webinars to support your overall wellness on topics like nutrition, budgeting, mindfulness, and more
- All Justworks offers include equity, and Justworkers can continue to earn more over time with promotions and tenure
- Extensive learning & development opportunities through workshops, ExecOnline, Udemy, and BetterUp coaching
- Apprenticeship program that supports internal movement and growth
Company HQ
Fulton Ferry District, NY
Leadership
Isaac Oates
(Founder & Director)Experience as a Senior Product Manager at Amazon before founding Adtuitive and serving as COO for a year. Left this position to spend 3 years as a VP at Etsy, before founding Justworks.
Salary benchmarks
We don't have enough data yet to provide salary benchmarks for this role.
Submit your salary to help other candidates with crowdsourced salary estimates.
Share this job
View 59 more jobs at Justworks