People Strategy & Operations Lead at Garage (YC W24)
About Garage
Garage is a marketplace for specialized vehicles and equipment, starting with emergency vehicles. By automating every part of the transaction—including payments, freight, paperwork, warranty, and financing—we reduce what used to take months down to minutes. We're building the modern platform that powers commerce across America’s essential industries.
We recently closed a $13.5M Series A ($18M in total funding) from Infinity Ventures, Y Combinator, Initialized Capital, FJ Labs, and other top investors. In less than a year, our team has already served customers in all 50 states – and we’re just getting started.
The Role
As People Strategy & Operations Lead at Garage, you’ll tackle one of the most important challenges (and opportunities) in an early-stage startup: how we build and scale our team—using people strategy as a lever to drive the company’s growth. This role sits at the intersection of strategy, operations, and execution: you’ll take on high-impact, ambiguous problems and translate business goals into how we structure, grow, and evolve the organization. We’re looking for an ambitious, high-EQ generalist who brings strong problem-solving instincts and thrives in fast-moving environments. You’ll work directly with the CEO and leadership team to build our team, refine our people strategy, and lay the foundation for how Garage scales.
You may enjoy this role if
You want a seat at the table on the most important decisions in the company, working directly with leadership to shape how we build and scale.
You’re energized by ambiguous, high-stakes problems and take pride in bringing structure, clarity, and momentum where others see complexity.
You have a high bar for excellence and ownership—you don’t wait to be told what to do, and you consistently find ways to raise the standard of the team around you.
This role is great for someone with aspirations to break into tech, one day start their own company or have a fast-tracked path to leadership at a startup, and is motivated by the training ground this role provides.
In this role, you will:
Own how Garage builds its most strategic initiative, our team, from the ground up - leading hiring across functions and setting the standard for what “great” looks like at each stage of growth.
Be the face of Garage to the broader tech and talent market - leading high-stakes conversation, articulating our vision, and answering complex questions in real time.
Design, optimize, and scale our hiring engine - implement systems, tools, and analytics to track performance and continuously improve funnel efficiency and quality.
Partner directly with the executive team on team decisions and critical hiring - bring structured thinking and judgement to high-impact talent decisions for the company.
Develop strategic, creative solutions to build and nurture high-quality talent pipeline - build high-conviction sourcing approaches that surface exceptional and diverse candidates ahead of needs.
We’re looking for someone who:
Loves the energy of a high-growth environment where every day looks a little different
You have good judgement, high integrity, and a bias towards action
Qualifications
3+ years of experience in a high-performance environment (e.g., strategy consulting, investment banking, strategy & ops at a startup, or early stage recruiting), with a track record of progression and expanding scope.
A highly structured, strategic problem solver who can break down ambiguity, think one step ahead, and anticipate future organizational needs before they become obvious.
Exceptional organization skills with the ability to manage multiple high-priority workstreams without dropping the ball.
Strong communication skills, with the ability to synthesize ideas clearly and influence stakeholders across levels.
A self-starter who thrives in ambiguity, proactively identifying problems and taking ownership without waiting for direction.
You could work anywhere, so why Garage?
We’ve grown revenue 10x in the last year
We just raised our $13.5M Series A and are well capitalized
We have a product loved by users– used daily to procure mission-critical equipment across the country
We’re punching well above our weight– everyone joining at this stage will have outsized impact
We have a talent dense team operating in a high performance culture, in-person in NYC
We’re backed by world class investors including Y Combinator, Infinity Ventures, Initialized Capital, FJ Labs, and more
As part of our close-knit team, you’ll be one of the first 25 employees to join alongside the founders. You’ll take on meaningful responsibilities and play a key role in our next stages of growth.
More about Garage
Our values
Growth oriented. We invest in people who grow as the company grows. We all should be constantly learning.
Humility. Everyone has a lot to give and a lot to learn. We believe in creating an environment where the best ideas win and acknowledging when we are wrong.
Customer focused. We love our customers. Customer success is our success.
Hack to success. We move fast and take big swings. We always aim for a solution that addresses 80% of the problem in 20% of the time. We make informed bets, launch quickly, and iterate.
What we offer:
Competitive salary and stock options
Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance for you and all your dependents
Enjoy daily catered lunches at our New York City office
Unlimited paid time off every year
$100 / month wellness stipend
Bi-annual team offsite
We realize applying for jobs can feel daunting at times. We don’t expect you to check all the qualification boxes and encourage you to apply if you have experience in some of the areas.
The salary range for this role is $120,000 to $160,000 USD base + equity + benefits. This is the lowest to highest salary we in good faith believe we would pay for this role at the time of this posting. We may ultimately pay more or less than the posted range. An employee’s pay position within the wage range will be based on several factors including, but limited to, relevant education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, seniority, geographic location, performance, and business or organizational needs. This compensation range may also be modified in the future.
As an equal-opportunity employer, we are committed to building an inclusive environment where you can be you. We work hard to evaluate all employees and job applicants consistently, without regard to race, color, religion, gender, natural origin, age, disability, pregnancy, gender expression or identity, sexual orientation, or any other legally protected class.