Business Operations Lead

San Francisco, CA

About the role

Who We Are

Serval is an AI-native automation platform transforming how enterprises operate. We build intelligent agents that understand real-world workflows and execute them end-to-end — replacing manual processes and rigid legacy systems with adaptive, learning software. Founded in early 2024, Serval is already trusted by companies like Fox, Notion, Perplexity, Vercel, and Brex to automate high-volume, high-friction operational work across their organizations.

At the core of Serval is an agentic AI platform that turns natural language into production-grade workflows. Our agents don’t just respond to requests — they reason, take action across systems, and continuously improve with usage. What began with operational use cases has quickly evolved into a horizontal AI automation layer used across IT, HR, Finance, Security, Legal, and Engineering.

Our mission is to eliminate repetitive, manual work across the enterprise and give teams leverage through intelligent automation. Long term, we’re building the universal AI operations layer — a system of agents that sits across business functions and runs the workflows that keep modern companies moving.

We’re backed by leading investors including Sequoia Capital, Redpoint Ventures, Meritech, First Round, General Catalyst, Elad Gil, and others.

About the role

We’re launching a new business line in response to exceptional market demand. As our Business Operations Lead, you’ll act like a GM and own the strategy, operations, reporting, and ultimately the P&L for this function. You’ll partner with the Exec Team, Sales, Deployment, Engineering and Operations to establish our playbooks and then rapidly execute on them to turn this into a strong 8-figure business in the first year.

  • An owner, not (just) an analyst. You establish the plan, work the plan, and live with the result. You’d rather be accountable for a number than merely right about one.

  • Allergic to dashboards nobody acts on. Any report that doesn’t change a decision is a distraction. You ruthlessly prioritize to ensure everyone is focused on the few metrics that matter.

  • A doer, not a delegator. Equally comfortable writing the SQL, restructuring a deal on a Friday night, or sitting down with the deployment teams to figure out how we can expedite time-to-value.

  • Commercially sharp. You think in terms of customer satisfaction, margin, utilization, and attach rate, and know how to build a strategy around it.

  • Relationship-oriented. You know your effectiveness depends on your ability to influence Sales, technical teams, and leadership.

  • High ownership, high slope. You see the gap, you propose the solution, you execute.


What You’ll Do

  • Own the P&L for your line: you build the operating plan and ultimately own the results, including revenue, margin, and profitability

  • Set and defend pricing and packaging. Build the model, pressure-test it in live deals, and change it the moment the market tells you it’s wrong.

  • Partner with Deployment on unit economics: how do we ensure this business is built to scale while delivering best-in-class customer experience?

  • Partner with Sales on deal strategy. Sit in on the calls, structure the contracts, and figure out how to win the business.

  • Build the forecast and the operating cadence (weekly pipeline, monthly business review, quarterly plan)

  • Scale from the 10k foot view down to the minutiae: where should we open an office? How will we recruit and maintain talent? What do we look for in a candidate?


What You’ll Need

  • 5-8+ years across business operations, strategic finance, corporate strategy, consulting, or an operating role at a high-growth software company.

  • Direct experience owning or materially shaping a P&L, a gross margin line, or a pricing model.

  • Strong quantitative and modeling skills.

  • Working fluency with the systems that run a GTM org: Salesforce, a BI tool, and billing or usage data you can reconcile without help.

  • Real command of software and AI unit economics: COGS, gross margin, payback, net revenue retention, and what changes each one.

  • A track-record of partnering closely with functional leaders to drive execution

  • Comfortable moving fast, being wrong in public, and correcting quickly.


Nice to Have

  • Investment banking, management consulting, or private equity / vc experience

  • Early-stage experience where you built the reporting and forecasting stack rather than inheriting one.

What We Offer

  • Impact: Be a key player in shaping the success of our product and company.

  • Growth: Build a fundamentally new AI product offering with the support of our experienced team and investors. Grow rapidly with the company.

  • Culture: Join a culture that values innovation, ownership, accountability, and fun.

About Serval

Serval is the AI platform for IT teams — replacing legacy systems like ServiceNow with automation that frees people to focus on meaningful work. Founded in early 2024, Serval is already trusted by innovative companies such as Perplexity, Together AI, Writer, Mercor, and Verkada to automate more than 50% of their IT tickets.

Other roles at Serval

Interested?

Let me introduce you to the founders.

Skip the process

Refer someone

Know someone great for this role?

Share your link. If they get hired through Standout, you get $3,000.

Job details

Location

San Francisco, CA

Company

NameServal
Industryai, enterprise, b2b
Team Size25

Funding

Total raised

$122M

Last stage

Series A

Investors

Sequoia
RRedpoint
MMeritech
FFirst Round
General Catalyst

Founders

Alex McLeod

Alex McLeod

Co-Founder & CTO

LinkedIn
Jake Stauch

Jake Stauch

Co-Founder & CEO

LinkedIn

What happens next.

No applications, no recruiter spam. Just the intro.

01

Confirm the fit

A few questions to make sure this role is the right shape for you. Two minutes.

02

I pitch you to the company

I write the intro, send it to the founder, and handle the back-and-forth.

03

A meeting lands on your calendar

If they’re a yes, I book the chat. You show up — that’s the whole job-hunt.