Forward Deployed Strategist

We are looking for a Forward Deployed AI Strategist at a Seed stage AI startup, with 3–5 years of experience to embed with enterprise clients, run forensic workflow audits, and translate complex business problems into AI solutions that actually ship. This is a high-ownership, client-facing strategy role — think McKinsey engagement manager meets AI operator — built for someone who's tired of making recommendations that disappear into a void and wants to see their work run in production.

What will you be doing?

• Run end-to-end discovery engagements with enterprise clients — mapping workflows, interviewing stakeholders, and delivering executive readouts to CFOs and COOs
• Translate ambiguous business problems into concrete specs that Varick's engineering team can build and deploy
• Pre-sell the implementation phase by running audits so compelling that clients greenlight the full engagement
• Own client relationships from first conversation to live system handoff, with 10–20% travel to client sites
• Feed field learnings back into Varick's playbooks, patterns, and platform as the team scales

Key Requirements

• 3–5 years of experience in top-tier strategy consulting (McKinsey, BCG, Bain) or equivalent strategy/biz ops role — must have owned engagements, not just supported them
• Proven ability to lead meetings and build trust with C-suite stakeholders (CFOs, COOs, VPs) — you can hold the room and push back without losing the client
• First-principles problem solver — you reason from the actual business problem, not a template
• AI-native: uses AI tools daily and has a genuine point of view on where agents work and where they don't
• Based in or willing to relocate to San Francisco; role is 5 days/week in-office with relocation support available