At a Glance
- Tasks: Drive strategic projects and enhance customer experience in a fast-paced startup.
- Company: Kota, a modern insurance and benefits company with innovative solutions.
- Benefits: Competitive salary, dynamic work environment, and opportunities for rapid career growth.
- Why this job: Be a key player in shaping the future of employee benefits and gain senior leadership exposure.
- Qualifications: 5+ years in startups or consulting, strong analytical skills, and a customer-first mindset.
- Other info: Join a passionate team dedicated to integrity, innovation, and making a real impact.
The predicted salary is between 36000 - 60000 £ per year.
About Kota
Kota is reimagining insurance and retirement benefits for the modern workforce. Through our two flagship products—Kota Platform, the first fully integrated benefits platform, and Kota Embed, our embedded insurance solution—we're making benefits more accessible, valued, and global. Today, we power benefits for tens of thousands of employees at Europe’s most forward-thinking companies, including Carwow, Tines, Zoe, and Remote. Founded in 2022, we’ve raised more than €20M from leading investors like EQT Ventures, Eurazeo, Northzone, and Frontline, along with founders and executives from Workday, Remote, Personio, OpenAI, and more.
The Role
We are looking to make our first Strategy hire, playing a crucial role as we scale the business in 2026. Reporting to the COO, this person will take on a wide range of responsibilities to support many different areas of Kota. Success in this role would lead to this person becoming a trusted problem solver in the company with broad knowledge of the business and its operations. Desired outcomes would see the continued development of a world-class customer experience and co-ordination of key elements of our geographic expansion. This individual should be a generalist and an excellent problem solver, enjoying the ambiguity that is inherent in startup life. The role represents an opportunity to build, supported by experienced founders and a stellar executive team, leading to senior leadership exposure and accelerated learning.
What We’re Looking For
- Drive strategic projects: Identify and lead business-critical projects that will accelerate business growth and improve efficiency, particularly in areas such as customer experience and expansion.
- Lead day-to-day initiatives: Uplift the performance of our functional teams, taking ownership for elements of our BAU setup.
- Own competitive intelligence: Build our market understanding and contribute to the development of industry-leading solutions that solve pain points experienced by customers.
- Establish data foundations: Contribute to a data-centric culture by owning projects that drive our information capabilities, enabling everyone to take a data-driven approach to problem-solving.
- Prepare cross-functional updates: Draft and update materials informing stakeholders about project progress, risks, and opportunities.
- Handle ad-hoc requests: Relate to all functional areas of the business, including deep dives or issue analysis and resolution.
What We’re Looking For
- 5+ years of experience in fast-growing startups or top-tier consulting firms or equivalent.
- Outstanding analytical skills across tools, with SQL experience preferred.
- Ability to switch contexts: A generalist who can quickly learn and operate across various, complex topics at any one time.
- Bias for action: Prefer to drive things to completion and achieve results.
- Customer-first mindset: Our customers are at the heart of what we do and everything we build contributes to industry-leading outcomes for them.
- Clear communication: Excellent written and verbal skills. Can communicate ideas clearly and engage stakeholders at all levels.
- Comfort with ambiguity: Thrive when there’s no playbook. Would rather build the thing than inherit the thing.
Our Values
- Have Integrity: We care deeply about our why and it won’t jeopardise our how.
- Care Deeply: Our products are our story, we look at the details, go the extra mile to delight customers.
- Own Your Ship: Ask why, do the work, get the data, solve the problem, be an owner.
- Raise the Bar: We continuously look to push past good enough. Expect more, move faster, and never stop raising your and the team’s standards.
- Play to Win: We exist because we decided to say no to the norm – now we do this every day.
Strategy & Operations Manager employer: Kota
Contact Detail:
Kota Recruiting Team
StudySmarter Expert Advice 🤫
We think this is how you could land Strategy & Operations Manager
✨Tip Number 1
Network like a pro! Reach out to people in your industry, especially those at companies you admire, like Kota. A friendly chat can open doors and give you insights that a job description just can't.
✨Tip Number 2
Prepare for the interview by diving deep into Kota's mission and values. Show us how your experience aligns with our goals, especially around customer experience and strategic growth. We love candidates who are genuinely excited about what we do!
✨Tip Number 3
Practice your problem-solving skills! Be ready to tackle real-world scenarios during interviews. We want to see how you think on your feet and approach ambiguity—it's all part of startup life!
✨Tip Number 4
Don't forget to apply through our website! It’s the best way to ensure your application gets seen. Plus, it shows us you're serious about joining the Kota team and making an impact.
We think you need these skills to ace Strategy & Operations Manager
Some tips for your application 🫡
Show Your Passion for Strategy: When you're writing your application, let your enthusiasm for strategy and operations shine through. We want to see how you can drive strategic projects and uplift performance, so share examples of how you've done this in the past!
Be Clear and Concise: We love clear communication! Make sure your application is easy to read and straight to the point. Highlight your analytical skills and experience with SQL, but keep it engaging—no one likes a wall of text!
Embrace the Ambiguity: Since we thrive in a startup environment, show us how you handle ambiguity. Share stories where you've navigated uncertain situations and built solutions from scratch. This will demonstrate your comfort with the unknown!
Apply Through Our Website: Don't forget to apply through our website! It’s the best way for us to receive your application and ensures you’re considered for this exciting opportunity. We can't wait to see what you bring to the table!
How to prepare for a job interview at Kota
✨Know Your Stuff
Before the interview, dive deep into Kota's products and values. Understand how the Kota Platform and Kota Embed work, and think about how your experience aligns with their mission to reimagine insurance and retirement benefits. This will show that you're genuinely interested and prepared.
✨Showcase Your Problem-Solving Skills
Since the role requires a knack for tackling ambiguity, come prepared with examples of how you've successfully navigated complex challenges in previous roles. Highlight specific projects where you drove results, especially in fast-paced environments like startups or consulting firms.
✨Emphasise Data-Driven Decision Making
Kota values a data-centric culture, so be ready to discuss how you've used data to inform your decisions. If you have experience with SQL or analytical tools, mention it! Share instances where your insights led to improved customer experiences or operational efficiencies.
✨Communicate Clearly and Confidently
As clear communication is key for this role, practice articulating your thoughts succinctly. Prepare to explain your ideas and experiences in a way that engages stakeholders at all levels. Remember, it's not just about what you say, but how you say it!