Founding Marketplace Operations Lead
Location: San Francisco, CA or Phoenix, AZ (In-person) | Seniority: Founding Operator | Comp: Meaningful Founding Equity
Overview EQL Tech has been exclusively retained to recruit a Founding Marketplace Operations Lead for a high-growth, mission-driven fintech startup.
This company is building the commercial infrastructure for the $900B US Public Education budget. As states shift toward family-controlled Education Scholarship Accounts (ESAs), this platform acts as the financial rail allowing parents to direct an average of $7.5k per child toward the education services they choose.
With $16M raised from top-tier VCs, the team is composed of elite engineers and operators from Goldman Sachs, Stripe, Microsoft, and SpaceX.
The Role You will own the economics and vendor partnerships of a pre-category education marketplace. This is a "playbook from scratch" role combining commercial negotiation, deep data analysis, and community trust.
- Analyze Spend Data: Dig into real transaction data to identify categories and purchase flows that matter most by frequency, volume, and margin opportunity.
- SQL Mastery: You must be able to independently access and interpret underlying transaction data to defend your category thesis.
- Category Strategy: Decide who to partner with and why - from local micro-schools to national enterprise vendors like Amazon and Target.
- Negotiate Agreements: Structure commercial deals and commission logic that improve company margin and leverage over time.
- Steer Volume: Influence spend through product and ops (preferred vendors, discovery, faster approvals) without degrading family trust.
- High-Stakes Compliance: Account for evolving ESA eligibility rules across different states in your roadmap.
Requirements
Ideal Background
- 3–7 years in marketplace operations, category management, or strategic partnerships.
- Technical bar: SQL is essential for this role.
- Marketplace Experience: Proven track record in two-sided supply/demand dynamics (e.g., experience at Amazon, Instacart, Faire, or similar).
- Negotiation: Experience structuring end-to-end vendor deals at meaningful scale.
- Pedigree Signal: Strong undergraduate degree or MBA from top-tier institutions (Stanford GSB, Harvard, Wharton, MIT Sloan).
Culture & Commitment
- In-Person Intensity: This is an in-person team working together in the office full-time.
- Decisive & Fast: You form views with incomplete information and update them quickly as data arrives.
- "Get on the Plane": You are willing to do the ground-level work, including regular travel to visit vendors and families.
- Integrity: You refuse to chase margin at the expense of long-term community credibility.
Benefits
Commitment, Compensation & Benefits
This will be a big commitment, and we're aiming high. It needs to be something you are energised about taking on, or this isn't the team for you.
- Competitive Salary: $120,000 – $170,000 per year, commensurate with experience.
- Generous Founding Equity: We compensate you well with equity.
- Top-Tier Backing: We've raised $16M from top-tier VCs and angels.
- Relocation Support: You are willing to relocate to San Francisco, CA, or Phoenix, AZ, and travel to visit customers. We're an in-person company and are in the office together.
- Comprehensive Visa Sponsorship: If you do not have a visa, we can support you.
- Unmatched Impact: The rare opportunity to directly shape how the $900B US Public Education budget is being opened up for parents to take control of their portion (avg. $7.5k/kid/year).
INDEQL