Varick Agents — Forward Deployed AI Strategist

Type: Full-time | On-site | San Francisco, CA (Financial District, 5+ days in-person) Compensation: $140,000–$240,000 + Competitive Equity Hiring count: 3 Visa sponsorship: None available Reports to: Engagement Manager (outreach template names Daniel Kornum, ex-COO Citadel Securities Europe — uncorroborated elsewhere; no LinkedIn provided)

About Varick Agents

Varick Agents is a San Francisco–based AI startup valued at $30M following a $3.8M seed round. The company helps enterprises move AI from prototype to reliable production by embedding with customers, auditing their operations, and building the agents, integrations, and workflows needed to transform how their businesses run. Varick is building the AI FDE — an agent designed to do the work of a forward-deployed engineer: scoping complex problems, writing and integrating code, and deploying production systems alongside customer teams. The thesis: the hardest part of enterprise AI is not the model, but deployment, reliability, and trust.

Founded: 2026 | Team size: 11–50 | Total funding: $3.8M (seed) Industry: AI Tools Website: varickagents.com Office: San Francisco, CA (Financial District)

Why Candidates Should Join

• Early to the thesis: working directly with billion-dollar companies
• Real ownership: implementations that actually ship and run — own the full loop from problem identification to production
• High-bar team: operators, engineers, and strategists, with direct access to operators and executives — no layers or process overhead
• Judgment shapes the company: small early team where your judgment shapes product and playbooks
• Clear path up: path to Engagement Manager in 12–18 months for high performers

Intake Call Summary

• No intake call transcript on the role page — an Intake Video is posted but not transcribed. Request a written summary from Contrario if call detail is needed for scoring.

The Role

Forward Deployed Strategists own the interviews that surface the requirements for every Varick engagement. You sit across the table from process leads, controllers, middle management, analysts, and ICs at Fortune 500 and NASDAQ-listed enterprises — 30 to 60 minutes at a time, all day, every day during an engagement. There is no script: you pivot based on what the interviewee actually says, surface what the framework missed, and translate live conversation into the analysis engineering builds against. This is not a 6-month-ramp consulting gig — you join, plug in, and run.

What You'll Be Doing

• Run client interviews end-to-end — 30–60-minute sessions with process leads, controllers, middle management, analysts, and ICs
• Own one or two sub-process workstreams inside the department being audited (AP workflow, deal desk routing, close cycle, etc.)
• Build the analysis: process maps, bottleneck identification, ROI sizing, agent specs engineering can build against, and leadership presentations
• Manage real-time conversation pivots — no script; adjust based on what the interviewee actually says
• Map stakeholder buy-in — figure out who else you need to talk to and get the meetings yourself

Tech stack: AI-native tooling — Claude, Cursor, terminal used in day-to-day work

Requirements

• 1-5 years, MBB BA/Associate or top-tier operator
• Real-time conversation management, no script
• AI-native: Claude, Cursor, terminal already used
• Ownership mindset, no 6-month ramp required
• Polished delivery: crisp emails, top-down presentations
• SF Financial District, 5+ days in-person

Green Flags

• Hears the missing piece in real time and asks the right next question.
• Confident enough to redirect a CFO conversation when it goes sideways.
• Already vibe-working or has used AI tools deeply on their own.
• Visible independent thinking and curiosity.
• Polished delivery without being stiff.

Red Flags

• Needs a runbook to function.
• Misses prompts in a case (keeps walking down the framework instead of responding).
• Generic analytical answers, no real opinion.
• Used to a one-month-plus onboarding ramp at their past job.
• Treats this as another consulting gig.

Role Details

Salary$140,000–$240,000EquityCompetitive (percentage unspecified)On-site policySF Financial District, 5+ days in-personVisa sponsorshipNone availableEmployment typeFull-timeLocationSan Francisco, CA

Screening Questions

• None listed on the role page.

Interview Process

Stage 1 — Pending Approval — Candidates awaiting initial approval. Stage 2 — First Round Stage 3 — Second Round Stage 4 — Third Round Stage 5 — On Site Stage 6 — Offer Stage 7 — Hired — Candidate accepts and starts.

Ideal Companies & Backgrounds

From Contrario's Nice-to-Have list Consulting (MBB) — McKinsey (BA/Associate), BCG (Consultant/Associate), Bain (Associate Consultant) Banking / PE operator — Goldman, Evercore, Morgan Stanley, Lazard analysts pivoting to operator roles Technical IC with strong comms — engineers with C-suite-facing communication signal Startup operator — Chief of Staff or BizOps at a high-bar startup Non-traditional paths are OK if the communication and ownership bars are visibly clear.

Ideal Candidate Profiles

None provided on the role page.

Rejected Candidate Feedback

None provided on the role page.