Strategy AssociateDepartment: Commercial
Employment Type: Permanent
Location: Atlanta
Reporting To: Julie Adeltoft
DescriptionAs a Strategy Associate, you'll own high-impact initiatives across growth, operations, and partnerships. Sitting at the intersection of data, strategy, and execution, you'll identify opportunities, solve complex business problems, and drive projects that improve how YouLend acquires, converts, and funds SMEs.
You'll work closely with teams across Product, Risk, Operations, Capital Markets, and Partnerships to improve funnel performance, launch new initiatives, optimise processes, and support commercial growth. You'll also engage directly with strategic partners, using data and commercial insight to influence decisions and deliver results.
This role is ideal for someone who combines strong analytical skills with a bias for action, thrives in ambiguity, and wants significant ownership and visibility from day one. At YouLend, you'll be encouraged to take initiative, challenge the status quo, and help shape how the business grows.
Key Responsibilities- Own and improve performance across the end-to-end merchant funnel, from application through funding, identifying bottlenecks, drop-offs, and opportunities to improve conversion, efficiency, and customer experience.
- Lead high-impact strategic initiatives across partner performance, pricing, market expansion, operational optimisation, and new product launches.
- Design, execute, and evaluate experiments and pilots, using data-driven insights to optimise growth, operational efficiency, and commercial outcomes.
- Build and monitor key operational and commercial KPIs, dashboards, forecasts, and business cases that inform decision-making across the organisation.
- Use data to diagnose problems, identify opportunities, and develop actionable recommendations that balance growth, risk, customer experience, and profitability.
- Represent YouLend in discussions with strategic partners, contributing to business reviews, pricing discussions, RFPs, commercial negotiations, and growth initiatives.
- Drive cross-functional execution by aligning Product, Risk, Credit, Operations, Capital Markets, and Partnerships teams around shared objectives and ensuring initiatives are delivered effectively.
- Identify opportunities to automate processes, improve tooling, reduce manual effort, and scale operations while maintaining quality and compliance standards.
- Act as a change leader, embedding new processes and ways of working across teams with strong stakeholder buy-in and minimal disruption.
- Take ownership of ambiguous, high-priority business challenges, stepping in wherever necessary to drive progress and deliver results.
Skills, Knowledge & ExpertiseExperience- 2-3 years of experience in consulting, fintech, technology, banking, strategy, operations, or another highly analytical and commercially focused role.
- Experience managing cross-functional projects and driving initiatives from idea through execution.
- Experience in fintech, lending, underwriting, partnerships, or operations strategy is advantageous but not required.
Analytical Skills - Strong analytical skills with experience using SQL, Excel, Python, or similar tools to extract insights, build models, and support decision-making.
- Comfortable working with large datasets, identifying patterns, and translating findings into actionable recommendations.
- Ability to make sound decisions using data and judgement, even when information is incomplete or ambiguous.
Commercial & Strategic Thinking - Strong commercial acumen with an understanding of how businesses balance growth, risk, customer experience, and profitability.
- Ability to identify opportunities, evaluate trade-offs, and develop practical solutions to complex business challenges.
- Interest in fintech, lending, and the dynamics of scaling a high-growth business.
Stakeholder Management & Communication- Excellent communication and presentation skills, with the ability to influence both senior internal stakeholders and external partners.
- Comfortable representing YouLend in partner discussions and communicating complex ideas in a clear and compelling way.
- Proven ability to build alignment and drive outcomes without relying on formal authority.
Ways of Working - Strong ownership mindset.
- You take responsibility for outcomes, not tasks, and proactively drive initiatives to completion.
- Bias for action and a willingness to operate in a fast-paced, ambiguous environment.
- Naturally curious, adaptable, and eager to learn new concepts, products, and markets.
- Comfortable challenging the status quo and driving change when better solutions exist.
Job Benefits- Health Care Coverage. YouLend covers 80%; employee contribution is 20% of the premium.
- Medical Plan (medical insurance and prescription drug coverage)- Choice of 5 different plans through United Healthcare.
- Dental plan coverage
- Vision plan coverage
- Benefits can be for: Employee only; Employee & Spouse; Employee & Child; Employee & Family
- Retirement - 401K match. Employee match $1 for $1 up to 5% of salary.
- Basic Life & AD&D Insurance.
- International travel insurance covered if traveling abroad for work purposes.
- Paid Time Off (PTO)- 20 working days (4 weeks) + US public holidays
- Paid Office Parking
