Strategic Project Lead (Demand Side)

Getclera; San Francisco, Northern (CA, KY); Hybrid; USD 90,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

Clera is seeking a Strategic Project Lead in San Francisco to own and scale the demand side of our talent marketplace. You’ll identify promising companies, build relationships with startup leaders, onboard clients, and convert learnings into a repeatable growth engine.

You will work closely with the founders, experiment across GTM channels, and have freedom to iterate. This role offers path toward broader ownership and a General Manager trajectory.

Qualifications

• 1–2+ years of experience in a client-facing, commercial, consulting, operations, or growth role.
• Experience in a demanding, fast-paced environment such as a venture-backed startup, management consulting, investment banking, or venture capital.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills.
• Strong relationship-building instincts and the ability to establish credibility with startup founders and senior leaders.
• Willingness to pick up the phone, initiate conversations, and hear “no” without losing momentum.
• A highly analytical and experimental approach to growth.
• Comfort working across strategy and execution, from designing a GTM motion to personally sending the first hundred messages.
• The ability to create structure from ambiguity and solve unfamiliar problems without waiting for detailed instructions.
• High ownership, urgency, and ambition to build something from an early stage.

Responsibilities

• Own company acquisition end to end, from identifying prospects and starting conversations to onboarding and activating new clients.
• Build trusted relationships with founders, executives, and talent leaders at high-growth startups.
• Develop a deep understanding of each company’s hiring needs and translate them into successful searches on Clera.
• Work across outbound, referrals, partnerships, events, content, and other GTM channels to generate qualified demand.
• Personally execute the work required to learn what works, including cold calling, writing outbound sequences, attending events, and running highly personalized outreach.
• Create compelling email and LinkedIn campaigns that consistently generate conversations.
• Experiment quickly with new messaging, channels, customer segments, and commercial models.
• Turn successful experiments into measurable and repeatable processes that the company can scale.
• Collaborate with our talent and product teams to improve matching quality, client experience, and marketplace liquidity.
• Track the entire demand funnel, identify bottlenecks, and take ownership of improving conversion at every stage.

Skills

Strategic outreach

Client relationship

GTM strategy

Experimentation

Communication

Cold outreach

Tools

CRM tooling

Job description

About This Role

Clera is building a talent marketplace that helps exceptional candidates connect with ambitious companies. As the marketplace grows, we are beginning to see strong network effects across both sides.

We are looking for a Strategic Project Lead to own and scale the demand side of our marketplace: the companies hiring through Clera.

This is not a traditional sales role. You will own the full journey from identifying promising companies and building relationships with startup leaders to onboarding clients, helping them succeed, and turning what works into a repeatable growth engine.

You will work closely with the founders and have significant freedom to experiment. The role is designed to lay the foundation for you to eventually grow into a General Manager position with broader ownership of the business.

What You’ll Do

• Own company acquisition end to end, from identifying prospects and starting conversations to onboarding and activating new clients.
• Build trusted relationships with founders, executives, and talent leaders at high-growth startups.
• Develop a deep understanding of each company’s hiring needs and translate them into successful searches on Clera.
• Work across outbound, referrals, partnerships, events, content, and other GTM channels to generate qualified demand.
• Personally execute the work required to learn what works, including cold calling, writing outbound sequences, attending events, and running highly personalized outreach.
• Create compelling email and LinkedIn campaigns that consistently generate conversations.
• Experiment quickly with new messaging, channels, customer segments, and commercial models.
• Turn successful experiments into measurable and repeatable processes that the company can scale.
• Collaborate with our talent and product teams to improve matching quality, client experience, and marketplace liquidity.
• Track the entire demand funnel, identify bottlenecks, and take ownership of improving conversion at every stage.

What We’re Looking For

• 1–2+ years of experience in a client-facing, commercial, consulting, operations, or growth role.
• Experience in a demanding, fast-paced environment such as a venture-backed startup, management consulting, investment banking, or venture capital.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills.
• Strong relationship-building instincts and the ability to establish credibility with startup founders and senior leaders.
• Willingness to pick up the phone, initiate conversations, and hear “no” without losing momentum.
• A highly analytical and experimental approach to growth.
• Comfort working across strategy and execution, from designing a GTM motion to personally sending the first hundred messages.
• The ability to create structure from ambiguity and solve unfamiliar problems without waiting for detailed instructions.
• High ownership, urgency, and ambition to build something from an early stage.

You Might Be a Strong Fit If

• You prefer building the sales playbook over inheriting one.
• You enjoy understanding how different startups operate and what makes their hiring challenges unique.
• You are equally comfortable speaking with a founder, analyzing funnel data, and writing a cold email.
• You are motivated by measurable outcomes rather than activity alone.
• You want a role where your scope grows quickly as the company grows.

Role Details

• Location: San Francisco, CA (in person)
• Type: Full-time

About Clera

Clera is an AI talent agent that helps exceptional professionals discover and access opportunities at high-growth startups. We combine technology with high-touch support to make recruiting faster, more personalized, and more effective for both candidates and companies.