Strategy & Operations | Payments Lead

Authentic is a tech-enabled MGA (managing general agent). We design and run insurance programs for specific kinds of businesses, like restaurants, gyms, and power producers. Brokers bring us the businesses that need coverage, and carriers back our policies. Every program runs on a platform we built ourselves, and we own every line of code behind it. Engineers and insurance experts build it side by side in New York and Dayton, Ohio. Since our founding in 2022, we’ve grown to 80+ people and been named to the 2026 CB Insights Insurtech 50.

The Role

We are looking for a high-agency generalist to join as our first Strategy & Operations hire. Our rapid growth over the past year has created a substantial opportunity to bring structure and automation to our core business processes. You will take ownership of some of our most pressing operational challenges, solve problems across teams, and help build the technology and systems that will allow our business to scale with best-in-class efficiency.

What You'll Do

• Own the outcomes - starting with financial operations, you will own the core workflows and KPIs across payments, collections, reconciliation, reporting, compliance, and more. Understand where things break down, set priorities, and drive measurable improvements.
• Build technology to increase efficiency - use the subject matter expertise you develop to serve as a product lead, identifying the highest-impact opportunities, defining what we should build, and working with engineering to turn manual workflows into software and agents that create operating leverage.
• Build repeatable processes - establish clear owners, handoffs, and documentation so routine work runs reliably without requiring you to manage every step.
• Drive cross-functional execution - work with GMs, Finance, and other teams to resolve complex issues. Get the right people involved, make decisions, and carry solutions through to completion.

Who You Are

• 2-4 years of experience in a high-intensity environment like investment banking, consulting, private equity, venture capital, or startups.
• Proactive - you don't wait for explicit instructions. You seek out problems, scope solutions, and drive them to resolution with minimal oversight.
• Low ego - you have no problem rolling up your sleeves to do whatever it takes to help the business win. No task is beneath you.
• Wants ownership and responsibility - being fully responsible for an outcome gives you energy. You're someone who wants to choose the approach and be accountable for the result.
• Reliable - you follow through on commitments and consistently deliver. You are known as someone who never drops the ball.
• Self-sufficient and a quick learner - you are resourceful and naturally try to figure things out before asking for help. You pick things up quickly and can find solutions to problems without an existing playbook.

Why This Role

• Set the foundation - as our first Strategy & Operations hire, you will help define the function, how it works with each team, and what good looks like. You’ll have the opportunity to create the playbook, so what you build becomes the standard.
• Room for growth - you will have significant opportunities to expand your scope, take on more responsibility, and own more of the product roadmap as you build expertise and deliver results.
• Define AI-native operations - you will be on the frontlines of figuring out how to build software and leverage AI to fundamentally improve the economics of running a tech-enabled services business.

Compensation

This role pays a base salary of $130,000-$160,000 and includes meaningful equity, so you’ll have real ownership in what we’re building. Your offer will depend on your experience and skills.

Our (FTE) benefits

• Competitive salary, equity, and role trajectory
• Comprehensive health benefits for you and your family
• 401(k) plan with company match
• Unlimited PTO
• Paid parental leave

About Authentic

Authentic builds the infrastructure that program insurance runs on. We partner with leading brokerages to design and manage custom insurance programs, backed by A and A- rated carriers operating nationwide. Brokers bring the data and distribution. We bring everything else: the technology, the capacity, and the underwriting expertise to stand up specialized programs at speed and build them to last.  We’re a Series A company backed by top investors, including FirstMark Capital, Zigg Capital, Slow Ventures, Clocktower, Commerce Ventures, and Altai. We’ve grown over 15x in the past year with a massive market opportunity ahead.

Authentic is committed to building an inclusive working environment regardless of gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, race, education, age, or other personal characteristics. We believe that people do their best work when they can be themselves, and different perspectives and experiences make us stronger as a team. We’re proud of the supportive and inclusive workplace we're building together and are always working to make it even better.