Director of Strategy & Operations

At Candid, we’re reimagining orthodontics by pairing clinical expertise with leading technology. We empower general dentists with everything they need to make great clear aligner care predictable, efficient, and profitable for their practices—and accessible and affordable for their patients. We’re looking for passionate people who want to shape the future of care, deliver real impact, and help us grow. If you’re ready to transform the future of dental technology, this is the team for you.

About the Role

We are looking for a Head of Strategy & Operations to help define and build Candid’s next generation of growth. You will own the strategy and 0-to-1 execution behind new products, businesses, and markets. You’ll identify where Candid should expand beyond our core clear aligner business, determine which opportunities are worth pursuing, and turn the highest-potential ideas into scalable businesses. This is a builder role. You’ll move from identifying an opportunity to developing the strategy and business case, defining the product and operating model, and ultimately bringing it to market. You’ll work across the organization to turn ideas into real products and businesses. You’ll also own Candid’s international expansion strategy, identifying and evaluating new markets and leading the work required to successfully enter and scale them. You will report directly to the Chief Strategy Officer, lead the Strategy & Operations team, and work closely with leaders across Commercial, Product, Clinical, Operations, Finance, and Technology. This is a remote role. We are open to candidates located in the United States.

What You’ll Do

• Own new product strategy. Identify opportunities to expand Candid’s offering, understand customer needs and market dynamics, and determine where we should invest across new products, services, and verticals.

• Build new products and verticals from 0 to 1 . Take the highest-potential opportunities from idea to launch, owning the strategy, business case, operating model, go-to-market approach, and early execution required to prove and scale the opportunity.

• Lead international expansion. Determine where and how Candid should expand geographically, evaluate market attractiveness and entry strategies, and lead the cross-functional work required to enter new markets.

• Partner with our commercial teams. Work closely with Sales and other customer-facing teams to identify unmet needs, test new ideas, and turn opportunities from the field into scalable offerings.

• Drive Candid’s use of AI. Identify and lead opportunities to use AI and emerging technologies to create new capabilities, accelerate new initiatives, and meaningfully change how we operate.

• Lead cross-functional execution. Bring together teams across Candid to turn new ideas into reality, creating alignment, solving problems, and driving initiatives from concept through launch.

What You’ll Need

• 8+ years of experience in strategy, management consulting, business operations, general management, new ventures, or a related field.

• A track record of taking new products, businesses, markets, or complex initiatives from idea through execution and delivering measurable results.

• Exceptional business judgment and structured problem-solving skills, with the ability to quickly understand unfamiliar markets, business models, and operational challenges.

• Strong product and commercial instincts, with the ability to identify customer needs and translate them into compelling business opportunities.

• A builder mentality—you’re energized by starting with a blank page, creating structure in ambiguous situations, and turning ideas into something real.

• Strong financial and analytical skills, with the ability to evaluate market opportunities, business models, unit economics, and investment tradeoffs.

• Experience developing and managing strategic partnerships.

• Proven ability to lead complex, cross-functional initiatives and influence senior stakeholders across an organization.

• Experience managing and developing high-performing team members.

• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to turn complex problems into clear recommendations and inspire action across teams.

• Fluency with AI tools and a strong point of view on how AI and automation can transform products, workflows, and businesses.

• High intellectual curiosity, strong ownership, and a bias toward action.

• Comfort operating in a dynamic environment where priorities evolve quickly and the path forward isn’t always obvious.

• Experience in healthcare, healthtech, dental, SaaS, marketplaces, or other operationally complex businesses is a plus.

Pay & Perks (for FT salary U.S. Corporate)

• Competitive compensation

• Stock option plan to give our employees a direct stake in Candid’s success

• Unlimited PTO to give our employees a little extra R&R when they need it

• Work from home stipend

• Comprehensive health coverage (medical, dental, vision) and generous parental leave

• Significant discount on our customized treatment plans and aligners

• You will grow a lot here. You’ll be surrounded by employees with deep experience in their field, who have a strong passion for doing great work and constantly learning

Our range for this role is $175,000 - $225,000. Our salary ranges are based on paying competitively for our size and industry, and are one part of the total compensation package that also includes equity, benefits, and other perks. To determine our range, we consider as many of the following data points as are available to us: external market salary survey data, experience level, skillset and balancing internal equity relative to our other employees. We include equity in our compensation packages because we believe our employees should have an option to purchase ownership in the company and benefit from what we hope will be a lot of upside growth. We expect the majority of the candidates who are offered roles at Candid to fall healthily throughout the range based on these factors.

Some insight into our culture that leaves an impression:

• Care Deeply - We succeed when we care about what we do. We go the extra mile for our patients, our partners, and for each other because what we do matters, and the care we put into it matters even more.

• Drive Results - Results matter. From closing a tooth gap to opening a new account—we set clear intentions, align around measurable goals, and take accountability for the outcomes.

• Commit to Growth - To change the face of oral health care, we have to keep growing—as individuals, as teams, and as a company. We approach problems with a beginner’s mindset and continuously pursue improvement.

• Embrace Candor - To create the environment we want to be a part of, we have to stay aligned—that means elevating each other and our partners through honest, respectful feedback, and fostering a culture of inquiry and debate.

• Work as One - Together, we have the ability, experience, and intuition to serve our partners and grow our business. When we work as a team, we draw on each other’s strengths, inspire new solutions, and share in our success.

EEOC

Our patients and colleagues come from diverse backgrounds and experiences. We strive to create and maintain a diverse and inclusive environment and hire great talent that is equally diverse; not simply because it’s the right thing to do, but it makes our company, our products, and our culture that much better. We’re proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We do not discriminate in hiring or any employment decision based on race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), marital status, ancestry, physical or mental disability, genetic information, veteran status, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, or other applicable legally protected characteristics. Additionally, this organization participates in E-Verify.