Strategy & Operations Manager

NinjaHoldings; Chicago (IL); Remote; USD 90,000 - 140,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible Paid Time Off

Health Benefits with medical, dental,

401(k) with matching contribution

Paid Family Leave

Annual Wellness & WFH Subsidies

Employee Referral Program

Remote first culture with convenient-d

Job summary

NinjaHoldings, a Chicago-based fintech company, seeks a Manager, Strategy & Operations to drive growth through efficiency, strategy execution, and cross-functional leadership. You will translate business needs into requirements, lead initiatives end-to-end, and collaborate with Product, Engineering, Risk, Compliance, Finance, and Marketing to deliver measurable outcomes.

The ideal candidate is data-driven with strong product management skills, capable of navigating ambiguity and delivering

Qualifications

• 6+ years in strategy, operations or related roles within fintech/startups.
• Experience leading cross-functional projects from concept to execution.
• Strong product management and analytics capabilities.
• Ability to translate business problems into structured plans and actions.

Responsibilities

• Identify opportunities to grow the business and improve operations.
• Translate objectives into project plans, requirements, user stories, and success metrics.
• Evaluate processes and workflows to remove bottlenecks and inefficiencies.
• Lead cross-functional initiatives from discovery to launch and post-launch review.
• Collaborate with stakeholders, Product, and Engineering to meet business needs.
• Use data to develop recommendations and prioritize high-impact work.
• Manage timelines, deliverables, and communications across teams.
• Design scalable processes that improve efficiency and customer experience.
• Monitor performance and optimize implemented solutions over time.
• Coordinate with Risk, Compliance, Finance, Marketing, and other teams as needed.

Skills

Strategy development

Operations management

Product management

Business analysis

Project management

Data-driven decision making

Tools

SQL

BI tools

Process automation

Workflow optimization

Job description

Founded in 2017, NinjaHoldings works to give everyday Americans better access to financial services than traditional institutions typically provide. Through our CreditNinja and NinjaCard brands, we offer digital banking and lending products designed for consumers often overlooked, paired with incentives that support long-term financial improvement. Our Edge brand extends this expertise to other companies, providing underwriting, fraud detection, and analytics services. Headquartered in Chicago with a distributed global workforce, we are a lean, growing organization committed to advancing consumer finance in the US.

Job Summary

The Manager, Strategy & Operations drives business growth through operational efficiency, strategic execution, and cross-functional project leadership. This role identifies opportunities to improve processes and performance, translates business needs into actionable requirements, and leads initiatives from initial discovery through implementation and ongoing optimization. The ideal candidate is a data-driven, hands-on operator with strong product management skills who can navigate ambiguity, bring structure to complex problems, and partner effectively across Product, Engineering, Risk, Compliance, Finance, Marketing, and other functions to deliver measurable business outcomes.

Key Responsibilities:

• Identify new business opportunities, optimize existing products, and evaluate business performance to uncover opportunities for growth and operational improvement
• Translate business objectives into clear project plans, product requirements, user stories, and success metrics
• Evaluate existing business processes, products, and operational workflows to identify inefficiencies, bottlenecks, and opportunities for optimization
• Own cross-functional initiatives from problem identification and requirements gathering through prioritization, development, testing, launch, and post-launch evaluation
• Partner with business stakeholders, Product, and Engineering to define requirements, align priorities, resolve dependencies, and ensure solutions meet business needs
• Use data and business insights to develop recommendations, build business cases, and prioritize high-impact initiatives
• Manage project timelines, deliverables, and stakeholder communications to ensure initiatives remain on track and deliver intended results
• Design and implement scalable operational processes that improve efficiency, customer experience, and business performance
• Monitor the performance of implemented solutions, measure results against defined success metrics, and identify opportunities for continued optimization
• Collaborate with Risk, Compliance, Finance, Marketing, and other teams to ensure initiatives align with business objectives and operational requirements

Ideal Candidate Will Have:

• 6+ years of experience in strategy, operations, product management, business analysis, management consulting, or a high-growth fintech/startup environment
• Demonstrated experience managing cross-functional projects and driving initiatives from concept through execution
• Strong product management skills, including requirements gathering, writing user stories, defining acceptance criteria, prioritizing work, and coordinating with technical teams
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to translate ambiguous business problems into structured plans and actionable recommendations
• Experience using data to evaluate business performance, identify improvement opportunities, and measure the impact of initiatives
• Excellent communication, stakeholder management, and project management abilities
• Ability to manage multiple priorities, work independently, and drive results in a fastpaced environment
• Prior fintech, payments, lending, or financial services experience is highly preferred
• Experience with SQL, business intelligence tools, process automation, or workflow optimization is a plus

Benefits & Perks:

• Flexible Paid Time Off
• Health Benefits with generous medical, dental and vision insurance plans
• 401(k) with matching contribution
• Paid Family Leave
• Annual Wellness & WFH Subsidies
• Employee Referral Program
• Remote first culture with convenient downtown office in the heart of the city

IMPORTANT NOTICE:

Please carefully review communications to ensure that they are from the official Breezy applicant tracking platform (@breezy-mail.com) or an official NinjaHoldings brand email: @ninjaholdings.com, @creditninja.com, @ninjacard.com, or @edgescore.com. If you have been contacted regarding a job opening at NinjaHoldings from any other email address, including similar email variations, this is NOT a trusted source. We recommend that you refrain from responding to suspicious emails and file a complaint with the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) at https://www.ic3.gov. For questions or to confirm the authenticity of a communication, please email hr @ninjaholdings.com.