Director, Strategy & Operations

About Solace

Healthcare in the U.S. is fundamentally broken. The system is so complex that 88% of U.S. adults do not have the health literacy necessary to navigate it without help. Solace cuts through the red tape of healthcare by pairing patients with expert advocates and giving them the tools to make better decisions—and get better outcomes.

We're a Series C startup, founded in 2022 and backed by Inspired Capital, Craft Ventures, Torch Capital, Menlo Ventures, Signalfire, and IVP. Our U.S. based team is lean, mission-driven, and growing quickly.

Solace isn't a place to coast. We're here to redefine healthcare—and that demands urgency, precision, and heart. If you're looking to stretch yourself, sharpen your edge, and do the best work of your life alongside a team that cares deeply, you're in the right place. We’re intense, and we like it that way.

Read more in our Bloomberg funding announcement here.

About the role

We are building Solace's Strategy & Operations function, and this is the first hire on the team. You will not be inheriting a playbook. You will be writing it.

The function exists to make Solace run better as it scales. That means going deep on the operational problems that matter most, designing what needs to change, and then partnering with department leaders to actually drive the change. The job is weighted toward execution. We are not looking for someone who produces recommendations and walks away. We are looking for someone who can diagnose a problem with rigor and then stay engaged until the new way of operating is durable.

To start, you will work across three areas: scaling our CX operation, running a cross-functional operational diagnostic to identify where Solace's biggest scale gaps are, and helping stand up operational infrastructure for highly specialized functions. The mix will shift as we learn what matters most.

This is a high-trust role with a wide aperture. You will work directly with the CX leadership team, partner closely with leaders across the company, and have meaningful exposure to the executive team. As the function grows, you will have the opportunity to build and lead a team of your own.

What you will do

• Own end-to-end strategic and operational initiatives: From problem definition through implementation and measurement.

• Partner with department leaders: Diagnose where their operations need to evolve for the next stage of scale, and co-own the work to get them there. This includes working closely with clinical leadership to design "lighter-touch" workflows that respect clinical judgment while ensuring efficiency.

• Build the analytical foundation: Create frameworks for measuring operational performance across functions to replace decisions currently made by intuition.

• Lead specific workstreams: Drive company efficiency, measure AI integration impact, and identify upstream drivers of CX volume to solve problems before they reach agents.

• Run cross-functional projects: Take ownership of scale initiatives where no single department owns the outcome.

• Shape the S&O function: Define how this team operates, how it engages with the rest of the company, and what profiles we hire next.

Who you are

We are open on background. The strongest candidates we have seen tend to come from one of three paths: top-tier management consulting, high-growth operating roles where you built or scaled a function, or doing something really hard. What matters more than the resume shape is the track record. Specifically, you have:

• A strong analytical foundation: You can structure ambiguous problems, build the model or the framework that makes them tractable, and pressure-test your own conclusions before someone else does.

• Operational instincts: You understand that the gap between a good recommendation and a working operation is enormous, and you are energized by closing that gap rather than handing it off.

• Credibility with highly specialized experts: You can sit in a room with a department head, push them on how their function actually works, and have them come away feeling like the conversation made their operation better, not threatened.

• A bias to ownership: You measure your success by whether the change you drove is still working six months after you moved on.

• Comfort with ambiguity and white space: There is no template for this role. You will be making judgment calls about what to work on, how to scope it, and when to declare it done.

• Strong written and verbal communication: You can write a one-pager that an executive can act on in five minutes, and you can run a working session that gets a cross-functional team to a decision.

Nice to have

• Experience in healthcare, regulated industries, or services businesses with a human delivery model.

• Experience building an S&O, BizOps, or Chief of Staff function from scratch.

Applicants must be based in the United States.

Up for the Challenge?

We look forward to meeting you.

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