Founding Growth Lead

Location: New York City (preferred) | San Francisco (optional)

Employment Type: Full-Time

Base Salary: $150,000 – $190,000

Overview

We are seeking a Founding Growth Lead to build and own our growth engine from the ground up.

This is a true zero-to-one opportunity. You will design, test, and scale creative growth strategies that directly impact revenue and user acquisition. You will operate with high autonomy, move quickly, and turn ambiguity into structured execution.

This role is ideal for someone who thrives in early-stage environments and wants full ownership over building a repeatable, scalable growth function.

What You'll Do

• Build and execute the company's growth strategy from scratch
• Develop and test unconventional growth experiments across acquisition, activation, and revenue
• Design scalable growth systems and playbooks
• Identify new acquisition channels and creative distribution strategies
• Use data to drive rapid iteration and optimization
• Partner closely with leadership on go-to-market strategy
• Own growth metrics and revenue impact
  
  
  

What Were Looking For

Core Requirements

• Proven track record of creative, results-driven growth work
• Demonstrated ability to move quickly and take initiative without waiting for direction
• Strong analytical instincts paired with rapid execution
• Comfort operating in ambiguity and building systems from zero
• Founder-level ownership mentality
  
  
  

Strong Plus

• Experience building a growth function or playbook from scratch at a startup
• Track record of unconventional growth strategies with measurable results
• Experience in fintech, payments, or financial infrastructure
• Background in high-growth startup environments
  
  
  

Who This Is Not For

This role is not a fit if you:

• Primarily run standard email campaigns or paid acquisition without broader experimentation
• Require a fully defined playbook before getting started
• Prefer highly structured environments with heavy direction
  
  
  

What Success Looks Like

• Measurable user or revenue growth driven by your initiatives
• A documented, repeatable growth system
• Clear experimentation frameworks and rapid testing cycles
• Strong ownership across the full growth funnel
  
  
  

Why This Role Is Unique

This is not a growth manager position inside an established system.

You are building the system.

If you are energized by autonomy, creative problem-solving, and tangible business impact — and you want to architect a company's growth engine from the ground up — this is a rare opportunity to do exactly that.

SCREENING CRITERIA

Hard Filters:

• This is effectively HEAD OF GROWTH — first growth hire, owns revenue, reports to CEO
• Must have previously built a growth function or playbook from scratch at a startup
• Must show measurable user acquisition or revenue outcomes (not just community building)
• Must demonstrate unconventional growth strategies with quantified results
• Ideally 4–8 years experience with clear progression
• T50 school or equivalent pedigree required
  
  
  

Auto-Reject Triggers:

• Current undergraduate or recent graduate (hard fail on seniority)
• No revenue or user acquisition ownership in work history
• Only SEO/content marketing execution without strategic growth ownership
• No startup experience
• Advisory/support roles at startups without operator accountability