Contrario — Founding BizOps

Type: Full-time | On-site | San Francisco, CA Compensation: $100,000–$130,000 + 0.1%–0.3% equity Hiring count: 2 Visa sponsorship: None available Reports to: Founding team

About Contrario

Contrario (YC W25) is building an AI-powered recruiting marketplace that pairs domain-expert recruiters with AI agents to help fast-growing companies hire high-quality talent faster. The platform automates sourcing and administrative work while keeping human judgment at the center of recruiting. Backed by Y Combinator and Nexus Venture Partners, with angels from Hudson River Trading, Stanford, and OpenAI, Contrario works with 250+ companies across engineering and GTM roles, including Decagon, Listen Labs, and Wispr Flow.

• Founded — 2025
• Team size — 11–50
• Backing — YC W25, Nexus Venture Partners; angels from Hudson River Trading, Stanford, OpenAI
• Industry — Consumer Tech / AI recruiting
• Website — contrario.ai
• Office — San Francisco, CA

Why Candidates Should Join

• Founding-level ownership: You own the relationship engine of the marketplace end-to-end — client accounts, the recruiter network, and demos — with outsized ownership from day one.
• Backed and moving fast: YC W25 and Nexus Venture Partners, angels from Hudson River Trading and OpenAI, already working with 250+ companies including Decagon, Listen Labs, and Wispr Flow.
• Perks: Annual company offsites (Hawaii, Cancun, Tokyo), premium healthcare (medical/dental/vision), free lunches and dinners plus unlimited snacks and drinks, monthly wellness stipend, and flexible PTO.

The Role

A founding-level BizOps seat owning the relationship engine of the marketplace: managing client accounts and the recruiter network end-to-end while also running sales demos for the companies you manage. Roughly 80% of the role is relationship-driven work (client accounts, recruiter relationships, demos) with 20% focused on building the systems and playbooks that help the marketplace scale. Built for someone who thrives in ambiguity, builds trust fast, and wants outsized ownership early.

What You'll Be Doing

• Own a portfolio of customer accounts from onboarding through successful hires, becoming the go-to contact for every client you manage.
• Manage relationships with Contrario's highest-performing recruiters, supporting consistent placements and keeping them actively engaged.
• Run product demos independently, understand hiring needs, close straightforward opportunities, and transition new customers into account management.
• Keep the marketplace moving: chase down stalled searches, unblock recruiters, handle unhappy customers, and escalate the right things quickly.
• Identify and expand accounts by recognizing new roles and additional hiring needs organically through deep customer knowledge.
• Build systems and playbooks that help the marketplace scale, working closely with the marketplace operations team.

Requirements

• 1 to 2 years in operations, recruiting, PE, consulting, or similar high-agency environment (exceptional new graduates also considered)
• High-volume relationship management across clients and partners
• High agency: operates without a playbook
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Bachelor's degree from a US, CAN, or UK university
• SF in-person, five days per week

Green Flags

• Former founder or early sales hire
• Has personally run outbound
• Turned successful campaigns into repeatable systems
• Genuinely excited about the product as a user

Red Flags

• Needs a playbook to operate
• Only inbound or administrative experience
• Too senior or unwilling to grind in-person
• Not US-based or unwilling to relocate to San Francisco

Role Details

• Salary — $100,000–$130,000
• Equity — 0.1%–0.3%
• On-site policy — San Francisco, five days per week
• Visa sponsorship — None available
• Employment type — Full-time
• Location — San Francisco, CA
• Experience — 1–2 years
• Hiring count — 2

Interview Process

Stage 1 — Pending Approval — Candidates awaiting initial approval. Stage 2 — Initial Screen Stage 3 — Case Study Stage 4 — On-Site Stage 5 — Offer Extended Stage 6 — Hired — Candidate accepts and starts.