WANTED! The World's Most Driven Operations Manager
When applying, be sure the subject line is: "Full Name | Operations Manager | Country"
🌎 About Chore
Chore runs the back office for US startup founders. HR, payroll, finance, and compliance operations handled so founders can stop doing admin and build their companies.
We exist to make startups successful. We work behind the scenes to help our clients win.
- We like efficiency and geek out on checklists
- We're transparent with each other and our clients
- We're professional, inclusive, and autonomous
- We're building a culture based on trust, genuinely fun, and pushes each of us to keep learning
🚀 The Operations Manager
We're looking for a driven Operations Manager to join the team running our clients' back office operations, including human resources, finance, payroll, and compliance.
As an Operations Manager, you work directly with US startup founders to project manage their most critical operational matters. You work alongside a Chief Chore Officer, who owns the relationship. You own the operations. You're the person who keeps the lights on.
To be clear on "Manager:" this is not a team management role; you won't have direct reports. You manage operations across multiple client accounts, each with its own founder, systems, deadlines, and edge cases. The management skill we're hiring for is holding several live back offices in your head at once and keeping all of them moving.
These responsibilities are often tactical, but not thoughtless. As you build trusted relationships with founders, your work becomes strategic. Our best Operations Managers end up being who the founder calls first.
🎯 Some examples of our work
- Tactical work requiring judgment. "Can you work with our accountant to get taxes filed?" or "can you get this NDA to a customer and coordinate if there are any issues?"
- Work that gets strategic. "How should I think about compensation and benchmarks for my company?" We've seen this happen organically when Operations Managers have built a trusted relationship with clients
- Research and problem solving for edge cases. An unusual filing. A regulator with an unhelpful website. A vendor who's gone quiet. Something that has genuinely never come up before, you find the answer
- Choosing tools and vendors, with cost in mind. Our clients are early stage and often bootstrapped. You research the options, compare them properly, and recommend what fits their budget, not the biggest market name. We expect you to know what things cost and to raise it before anyone asks you
- Contributing to our knowledge base. Internal, client facing, and public facing. Every startup reinvents the wheel on HR, finance, and legal ops. It drives us crazy. We're building a reusable source of wisdom and best practices; what you learn goes into it, so nobody has to solve the same problem twice
- Internal projects that make Chore stronger. SOPs, systems, dashboards, operational improvements. Scoped, executed, and delivered by you
Note: unlike an internal Chief of Staff, this role doesn't extend into bespoke areas like go to market, analytics, or partnerships.
🧠 What we're looking for
We care about how you operate not what industry you operated in. Some of our strongest Operations Managers come from outside of startups and back office work entirely, but they consistently show high agency. If that's you, apply.
Required
- 2+ years experience interfacing with clients or external parties. What matters most: you were responsible for outcomes, not just a contributor
- You escalate with recommendations, not questions. When something breaks, and there's nobody available, you start solving
- Great written and spoken communication. You structure information clearly, and can be trusted in front of a founder
Nice to have, not required
- Startup experience
- HR, payroll, finance, or compliance experience
- An understanding of bookkeeping, accounting, or early stage startup finance
- Comfort with ClickUp, Slack, Notion, and Google Suite
You're probably a fit if:
- You're a total geek for better processes. More standardization, and reinventing things just enough to make them more efficient. You tick items off your list while thinking "how could I do this more efficiently?" You enjoy improving something daily
- You're detail oriented and a natural context switcher. You can focus in stressful situations and prioritize almost automatically
- You don't mind the unsexy part of running a startup. Dealing with regulators (including waiting on hold forever), managing employee offboardings, and basically doing the startup plumber work. It might smell, but a strong back office is foundational to success
- You're obsessed with using AI and technology to work smarter. You don't wait to be told about a new tool, you've usually already tested it
- You love building deep, trusting relationships with founders across many industries; you go above and beyond to make sure clients love us
- You're open to giving and receiving feedback. Up, down, and sideways, using the Radical Candor method
- You want to join a passionate, fun, and kind team long term (2+ years). This role might be a stepping stone, and we celebrate our team members' growth, but if you apply, our assumption is you prefer a job you see yourself in for several years versus one you expect to leave within twelve months
This is not for you if: you want a role where the work is defined for you
🎁 Why this role is special
- You get ownership from day one. From the moment you start, you are running real systems for real companies, not shadowing or waiting to be handed responsibility. Few roles give you this much impact this early
- You get rare visibility. You'll see how multiple US startups operate behind the scenes. Operators almost never get this
- You work with sharp, ambitious teammates who care deeply about doing things well
- You will grow faster than you imagined. You start by partnering with experienced Chief of Staffs
We attract people who want to grow faster in 2 years than most do in 5. We're good people who work well together, solving critical problems for awesome startups.
💵 Compensation and logistics
- Compensation. We believe in transparency. Below is what we pay by market, with quarterly bonuses of up to 30% based on performance. Last quarter, 70% of our Operations Managers received a bonus.
- India: $14K USD/year
- Nigeria and Africa: $14K USD/year
- LATAM: $20K USD/year
We do not negotiate. We believe negotiation is biased against various groups and creates poor dynamics. Instead, we pay and promote based on performance and clearly defined metrics. Most Chore team members get promoted to Senior Operations Manager in less than a year.
- Equity. All team members receive equity. Further grants are awarded based on performance and tenure
- Benefits. Up to $250/month WFH Stipend + Up to $50/month Wellness Stipend
- Location. Wherever you do your best work. We're remote first and proud of it. We are currently hiring across India, Africa, and LATAM. If you're good with our compensation and US working hours, the world is yours.
- Schedule. US business hours, Eastern or Pacific Time. This is mandatory and can be challenging. If you can't consistently work EST or PST hours, this role is not a good fit.
🦨 Read before applying
We believe in being upfront about the hard parts.
- US hours are required and demanding. This isn't suitable for everyone
- Remote work has real challenges. You need reliable WiFi, power backup, and a quiet workspace
- High ambiguity. You must create structure, not wait for it
- Extreme context switching. You'll simultaneously juggle multiple clients, internal stakeholders, and projects
- Feedback fluency. You must be comfortable giving and receiving feedback up, down, and sideways
- High ownership. Minimal hand holding. You are expected to self manage
- Client facing pressure. Founders move fast and expect clarity
If this energizes you rather than intimidates you, you're probably a great fit.
❤️ Our values
- Delight all stakeholders. Make work feel easier, clearer, and more thoughtful for clients, teammates, and yourself
- Meritocracy. We reward value created, not longevity
- Experiment and adapt. Try things, learn fast, improve continuously
- Assume good intentions. Take feedback well. Fix things proactively. Be a force multiplier
📝 How to apply [read carefully]
The application has 3 parts.
Step 1: Record a short video
Record one video answering two questions:
- Why is this role not a good fit for most people, and why is it for you?
- Pick something from the last three years that was yours to lead solo, not something you supported someone else on. Tell us what you decided, who else was involved and what they did, and what it cost or saved.
A few notes:
- Answer both questions in a single video while keeping it under 3 minutes
- One take is completely fine, we're not judging production quality, we want to hear how you think
- Recording via Loom is preferred
- We don't want AI generated answers (trust us, we can tell). Tell us your story, in your own words
Step 2: Submit the application form below (only after your video is recorded)
Link to form: https://levy.clickup.com/forms/42034173/f/182rzx-2152553/X00JSW8E6JY71N2O87
Please note: When sharing your resume, name the file Firstname.Lastname.OM - Resume. Ex: Jane.Doe.OM - Resume. PDF preferred.
Step 3: Send us a confirmation email
Using the subject line specified above, send an email to [email protected]:
- Confirm your submission
- Find an innovative way to use the phrase, "I actually read the instructions" as part of email
What happens next
We move quickly, and we want you to know what's coming.
- We review your application and video, usually within a week
- A 30 minute screening call, so we can get to know you
- A paid case study. 1 to 2 hours of work, with 72 hours to complete it. You'll receive payment for your work
- Four interviews, so you meet different team members: a Chief Chore Officer (30 mins), a current Operations Manager (30 mins), our Head of Client Operations (30 mins), and our CEO (15 mins)
- Offer rollout
Our Goal: application to decision in ~three weeks.