NextStep is a digital, AI-first career platform dedicated to helping top-performing consultants navigate career transitions. Our vision is to build a two-sided marketplace where candidates receive high-fit opportunities through a structured, data-driven journey, while employers access a vetted pool of top-tier consulting talent with enriched insights that accelerate hiring decisions.
The platform is developed in collaboration with Consulting Comedy, the largest consulting-focused community globally (1M+ followers), through a venture with Affinity Labs, a software studio for creator-led software brands.
Why join:
We're at an inflection point: strong traction, early-stage, pre-fundraising, and looking for a product-minded CEO who can take NextStep from early traction to a category-defining platform. This is a rare chance to step into a founding CEO role with significant upside:
- Built-in distribution: Leverage an engaged community of 1M+ consulting professionals as your unfair advantage
- Product ownership: Shape the AI matching experience from the ground up, with full autonomy over technical direction
- Fundraising momentum: Lead the narrative and build relationships with top-tier investors in future-of-work and AI
- Impact: Help exceptional professionals find work they love while solving real hiring pain for companies
- Meaningful equity: Founding-level ownership in a platform positioned to define a category
What you'll be responsible for:
The selected candidate for the CEO role will own strategic direction, product development, and fundraising execution. You will:
- Drive product strategy and manage our engineering team through rapid iteration cycles to enhance our AI matching algorithms and platform capabilities
- Work hands-on with our founding engineer to ship features that create measurable value for our users (individuals and businesses)
- Own the product roadmap from ideation through execution, making data-driven decisions on priorities and trade-offs
- Build the narrative, financial model, and investor relationships needed to secure funding
- Lead engagement with potential investors, enterprise customers, and community partners to drive adoption and investment
- Establish NextStep's brand positioning in the talent intelligence and career tech ecosystem
You're the right fit if you have:
- 3-6+ years in high-velocity product or growth roles at tech startups, ideally in AI-powered HR tech, talent marketplaces, or recruitment platforms
- Hands-on experience building and iterating on intelligent matching systems, career tools, or talent intelligence products
- Strong technical fluency and ability to work effectively with engineering teams to drive product development
- Consulting background (MBB, Big 4, or boutique firms) that gives you a deep understanding of the consultant career journey
- Track record of shipping products in fast-paced environments with limited resources
- Experience navigating fundraising processes, building investor relationships, and articulating product vision to investors
- Founder mentality: resourceful, resilient, and committed to driving results through hands-on execution
Role details:
- Location: Remote (UK time zone ideally)
- Compensation: Competitive compensation with founding-level equity
Selected candidates will be invited for interviews with our founding team.