Manager, Strategy & Operations

Juno; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 120,000 - 140,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health, dental, vision

Retirement matching

Job summary

Juno is seeking a Strategy professional to join our Chicago team, working directly with a member of the executive team to prioritize schools, partners, and lenders and to drive investment decisions across the student loan lifecycle.

You will build ROI analyses, set quarterly priorities, and oversee execution across cross-functional teams to scale initiatives and improve borrower outcomes.

Qualifications

• 2–5 years in management consulting, investment banking, private equity, or a strategy role at a high-growth company.
• Strong analytical skills with SQL and financial modeling ability.
• Clear commercial judgment and ability to drive initiatives from analysis to execution.

Responsibilities

• Evaluate performance of partners, events, and initiatives from first touch through funded loans.
• Build ROI cases and set priorities for schools, partners, and segments each season.
• Connect school to refinance and identify distribution channels to capture opportunities.
• Lead lender marketplace diligence and onboarding for in-school and refinance loans.
• Set milestones with business units and track initiatives through results.
• Step into leadership gaps to launch new initiatives or accelerate growth when needed.

Skills

Management consulting

Investment banking

Private equity

Strategy role

High-growth environment

SQL

Financial modeling

Analytical thinking

Commercial judgment

Execution

Tools

AI tooling

APIs

Job description

About Juno

Juno leverages collective bargaining power to secure better student loan rates for higher education students. With 290,000+ members and over $2B in negotiated loan volume, we've proven that group buying works. We are the most popular way to pay for the world's top graduate programs, and we stay with our members after graduation to help them refinance at lower rates.

About Juno

Juno leverages collective bargaining power to secure better student loan rates for higher education students. With 290,000+ members and over $2B in negotiated loan volume, we've proven that group buying works. We are the most popular way to pay for the world's top graduate programs, and we stay with our members after graduation to help them refinance at lower rates.

The Problem

Federal lending reforms have created a significant market shift. In July 2026, new caps on federal graduate loans, including the elimination of Grad PLUS for new students, came into effect, leaving millions of students with significant funding gaps. Students who fill that gap with private loans will enter repayment looking to lower their rates. Borrowers need transparent, competitive options both in school and after graduation.

Your Mission

Juno serves members across the life of their loans, from paying for school to refinancing after graduation. You'll work directly with a member of Juno's executive team to decide where we invest our time and capital along that path. That means deciding which schools, partners, and lenders to prioritize, and which initiatives to scale or wind down. You'll build the analysis, work with the relevant business unit leaders on a plan, and drive it through execution.

What You'll Do

• Evaluate performance. Assess the historical results of our partners, events, and initiatives, from first touch through funded in-school and refinance loans.
• Set priorities. Build the ROI case for new initiatives and decide which schools, partners, and segments to prioritize each season.
• Connect school to refinance. Identify distribution channels with access to borrowers looking to refinance and build a plan to capture these opportunities.
• Expand the lender marketplace. Lead diligence and onboarding for new lenders across both in-school loans and refinance.
• Run the operating cadence. Set milestones and metrics with each business unit and track every initiative through to results.
• Lead where needed. Step into key business roles as needs arise, taking hands-on ownership of a team or function to fill leadership gaps, launch new initiatives, or accelerate growth.

What We Offer

Compensation: $120k to $140k, plus variable compensation tied to performance.

Benefits: Comprehensive health, dental, vision, and retirement matching.

What We're Looking For

• Background: 2 to 5 years in management consulting, investment banking, private equity, or a strategy role at a high-growth company.
• Analytical rigor. You turn complex data into clear recommendations, using SQL and financial modeling to build the analysis yourself.
• Commercial judgment. You distinguish activity from impact and will recommend scaling what works and winding down what doesn't.
• Execution. You carry initiatives from analysis through implementation and keep cross-functional teams aligned on owners and deadlines.
• Technical leverage. When the tool you need doesn't exist, you build it with AI tooling and APIs.

The X-Factor

• You're candid: you bring leadership difficult conclusions along with the data behind them.
• You're persuasive: you can align partners, lenders, and business unit leaders around a single plan.

Interview process

Intro chat with the hiring manager, a case study exercise, cross-functional conversations with senior leadership, and references.

Why Join Juno?

Real Impact: Help hundreds of thousands of students and graduates access lower rates

Market Timing: Federal aid changes create massive tailwind for growth

Proven Model: $2B+ negotiated, 290K+ members, product-market fit achieved

We use AI-assisted tools to help screen and review applications in an initial assessment of skills and qualifications against our job requirements. While automation assists our recruitment team in processing high volumes of applications, final decisions on interviews and hiring are always made by human reviewers.