The role in one paragraphYou sit in the Strategy and Ops team and own the growth problems that decide whether Pallet becomes a generational company. You report to Ryan Gu, our Chief of Staff, and work closely with Sushanth Raman, our CEO. In practice, you're close to the decisions that set direction.
Why this role exists. Sushanth has been doing most of this himself. Channel partnerships, value-based pricing, investor and advisor networks, executive relationships - these have been the CEO's own projects, run out of his calendar. That no longer scales. You're not hired into a function someone else defined; you're taking handoff of the CEO's highest-leverage work, alongside Ryan and the rest of the Strategy and Ops team.
Reporting & exposureWorks closely with
Sushanth Raman (CEO), Abbey Garwin (VP of Global Sales), Jeff Zhao (Head of Product), Austin Zheng (Head of Finance), Nilkanth Patel (CTO)
Investor exposure
Our investor network is part of the growth surface. You'll meet people at General Catalyst, Bessemer, and Bain Capital Ventures through partnership work and events.
Location
San Francisco (FiDi) onsite Mon-Fri
What the work actually looks likeHere's the real mix from someone about a month into this seat. Treat it as a picture of the territory, not a job spec - the split will shift with your strengths and what the company needs that quarter.
Business value and pricing- Pricing, business case development and sales enablement
Executive support, strategy, and internal leverage- Running our executive & partnership network, help run events and strategies for product and commercial strategy as well as helping to build the GTM engine.
What good looks like at the end of a quarter: new partners sourced and activated, a pricing or business-case change that shows up in closed deals, and multiplying the potential output of our commercial and deployment teams.
What this role is not"Strategy and operations" means twenty different things at twenty different companies, so we're explicit here.
- Not a research function.
- Not account management.
- Not fully defined, on purpose.
Why Pallet, and why now- The market. The physical economy is a $12T global industry running on manual workflows. We're rebuilding the operation layer with AI agents.
- Talent density. You'd work next to people who were early at DoorDash, Google/Nest, Ramp, Scale, AtoB, Assembled, and Verkada, plus MIT supply chain and McKinsey alumni.
- The window. Outsized influence over product, GTM, and company trajectory only exists for a short stretch of a company's life.
How your career scales hereWe're flat and we promote from within. We care about slope, ownership, and impact; not ladders or tenure.
- Nilkanth Patel: IC 14 Head of Product Engineering 14 CTO
- Jeff Zhao: first business hire 14 Head of Deployments/Product
- Austin Zheng: Chief of Staff 14 Head of Finance
- Grace Turner: first recruiter 14 Head of Talent
Realistic paths from this seat: Head of Growth, Head of Partnerships, Head of Pricing and Business Value, or GM of a product line. Which one depends on which part of the work you make yours.
Compensation- Base: 150,000-250,000 plus equity and full benefits
Interview process- Chat with Grace Turner, Head of Talent - 30 min
- Business case conversation with Ryan Gu, Chief of Staff - 45-60 min
- Short Excel modeling exercise, on your own time
- Final interview, onsite in San Francisco - ~3.5 hours
- Brief background and reference check
We move fast and keep you informed at every stage.
Our Benefits We invest in our people the same way we invest in our product: seriously.
- Health, Vision, and Dental benefits
- Take-what-you-need Paid Vacation
- + Life Insurance and Accidental Insurance
- 65 Short-Term Disability Coverage
- Generous salary and equity for all staff
- 401k option; helping you save for the future
- Paid parental leave to support growing families
- Yearly learning and development stipend
- Commuter benefits for Bay Area and New York employees
- Uber ride stipend if you ever have to work late in the office
- Remote office home stipend to get you comfy in your space for remote employees
- Free professional headshot
- Daily catered lunches and dinners provided in office
- Complimentary On-Site Gym: Our SF office has a fully equipped gym
- Onboarding trip to one of our offices if you work remotely
- Monthly happy hours
- Annual Company Offsites; our last one was in Palm Springs CA
Workplace PolicyWe are an in-person company. Our offices in San Francisco, New York City and London are where ideas get built, decisions get made, and the team gets stronger. We have invested in making them genuinely great places to spend your day, with catered lunches, monthly happy hours, and people who care about the work and each other.
Most of our team works in office five days a week. For select roles, we hire remotely across the U.S. Remote employees come to one of our offices for their first week to onboard and meet the team, and we cover the full trip.
Every role is different. Travel expectations are always shared upfront in the job description and confirmed in your first call with us.
