role brief
Role brief · Confidential

Onboarding Manager (US)

We're hiring our second US Onboarding Manager to own the SMB book end-to-end — so our founding hire can focus where accounts get most complex.

Nory · NYC (hybrid) · SMB onboarding, US · Reports to Alexandria Dionne (Founding Onboarding Manager)

Priority P1 ASAP start
Why now

Alexandria's book has outgrown one person.

Alexandria, our Founding Onboarding Manager, is carrying more of the US book than one person can sustainably own — Sasha alone is running around 17 SMB onboardings solo. This hire adds a second, slightly more junior pair of hands to take the SMB book end-to-end, so Alexandria can focus on the largest and most stakeholder-complex accounts.

US ARR is targeted to grow from $400K to $3M by year end, with sales reps ramping fast across the team and one more sales hire still to come. Without this hire, time-to-value and onboarding quality risk slipping as the SMB pipeline converts faster than one person can absorb.

Not a founding mandate — additional capacityRoom to grow into lower mid-market
$0K
Current US ARR
$0M
Targeted US ARR by year end
0
SMB onboardings Sasha is running solo, today
What they won't own
  • The founding, build-from-scratch mandate — that's Alexandria's
  • The largest, most stakeholder-complex accounts
  • People management — this is an IC role
  • Mid-market accounts, for now
What they own

SMB onboarding, end to end.

1 SMB implementations end-to-end — up to ~10 sites per account, up to ~20 concurrentdirect
2 Being the sole point of contact for owner-operator stakeholders who are personally invested but not ops specialistsdirect
3 Tying delivery back to a measurable customer outcome, not just task completiondirect
4 Running the onboarding kickoff meeting and stakeholder alignment for every new SMB accountdirect
5 Flagging when nearing capacity before quality slips, across a high-volume bookdirect
6 Contributing to and improving the onboarding playbooks Alexandria is buildingbuild
7 Using AI to help develop and refine onboarding process and materials — and defending that reasoning under questioningbuild
8 Helping shape emerging areas like the hypercare stage alongside Alexandria and Sashabuild
9 Growing into the lower end of mid-market over timebuild
Who we're looking for

The candidate

An IC with 3–4 years' SaaS onboarding/implementation experience (up to ~5–6 years at the senior end), currently running a double-digit book of SMB implementations solo. Comfortable being the sole point of contact for a passionate, personally invested owner-operator, and comes from a background with real implementation complexity — not a simple config-and-done tool. Genuinely curious and willing to help shape emerging areas like the hypercare stage alongside Alexandria, rather than needing everything handed to them.

Stakeholder Management
Builds trust fast with a passionate, non-specialist owner-operator, and manages friction before it blocks progress.
Project Ownership
Runs a double-digit book of live SMB implementations concurrently with a clear tracking method.
Customer Value Measurement
Ties delivery back to a customer outcome — KPIs and quantified impact, not just task completion.
Process & AI Fluency
Contributes to process improvement and uses AI as a genuine thinking partner, not just an output generator.
Trade-offs we'll accept
✓ Customer Value Measurement is the most coachable competency — a 2 here with strong 3s/4s elsewhere isn't a blocker
✓ NYC hybrid isn't an absolute dealbreaker for an exceptional candidate
Not what we're looking for
The enterprise specialist
Only comfortable with a dedicated ops team behind them — over-qualified for a single owner-operator stakeholder.
The config-and-done implementer
Background limited to simple, single-module deploys (e.g. pure POS) with no multi-stakeholder complexity.
The first-timer
Has never run onboarding or implementation before — day-one hand-holding this role can't absorb.
The AI presenter
Submits AI-generated work with no ability to defend the reasoning once questioned.
The consultant
Strong on discovery framing, but no hands-on delivery ownership.
The pure executor
Follows the playbook exactly with no input — this role helps shape it, not just run it.
Hard no's
No US right to work
Under ~3 years of SaaS onboarding/implementation experience, without outsized responsibility to compensate
Never run more than one implementation at a time
No evidence of managing a book of business at volume
Purely enterprise background, no comfort operating without a specialist layer behind them
Can't defend the reasoning behind AI-assisted work under questioning
Scorecard — six competencies

Scored 1–4. Click one to see the bar.

What "AI-first" means for this role

AI as a thinking partner, not a crutch.

Candidates are expected to use AI to build task materials — that's not penalised. What differentiates a strong candidate is whether they can defend every decision under questioning, not present output they don't understand.

Task material drafting
Process documentation
Onboarding plan iteration
Non-negotiable

Ability to explain and defend the reasoning behind AI-assisted work under direct questioning — this is what separates a genuine thinking partner from someone presenting a generated deliverable they don't understand.

What we're testing, by stage

Five stages, each testing something specific.

1 Screening Talent Partner (Sian) Baseline on Stakeholder Management and Complex Project Ownership, plus hard logistics — US right to work, NYC hybrid, salary band.
2 HM Interview Alexandria (+ Chris for calibration, first 2 interviews) The deepest functional probe, across all four competencies — watching for AI enthusiasm that backs away once things get genuinely ambiguous.
3 Task / Case Study Alexandria + Chris An SMB-scaled case study (up to ~10 sites) with an explicit AI-use disclaimer, testing Stakeholder Management, Project Ownership and Customer Value Measurement.
4 Culture James Nory values in practice, with 'We act like owners' and 'We prioritise speed of service' as primary, given the pace of the SMB book.
5 Final CEO Culture fit and add; closes out any earlier gaps. Optional depending on how the task landed.

For the Task stage interviewer

The task is an SMB-scaled version of the existing onboarding task — up to ~10 sites rather than mid-market's 10–30. Candidates are expected and welcome to use AI to build their materials; what matters is whether they can explain and defend every decision under questioning.

For Culture and Final

This isn't a re-test of technical capability — it's whether the candidate will raise the bar through how they operate, with 'We act like owners' and 'We prioritise speed of service' as primary focus given the pace of the SMB book.

For Final: Culture fit and add, and a chance to close out any gaps from earlier stages.

Selling Nory

Real ownership, without carrying it alone.

You'll own the SMB book end-to-end — not a slice of it, not shadowing someone else's accounts.

Shape the playbook, don't just run it. Alexandria is still building the emerging parts of this function, like hypercare — you'll help define them, not just execute what's already been decided.

Real growth, right now. US ARR is targeted to grow from $400K to $3M this year — you're joining exactly as that curve bends up, not after it's flattened.

AI as your actual toolkit. You're expected to use AI to build and refine your own materials — not a policy on paper, a genuine part of how this team works day to day.

A clear next step, not a ceiling. This role is scoped a notch below our founding hire on seniority — with room to grow into the lower end of mid-market as you prove it out.