Senior Operations Lead
Curvenote | Remote (Canada-based preferred) | Full-time
About Curvenote
Curvenote is building the infrastructure for connected knowledge in a computable world, because static PDFs are the weakest link in how science and technical work get shared, losing the data, code, and context behind them.
We started as researchers frustrated with that disconnect and built the SCMS, a web-first platform for compiling, publishing, and preserving technical work. We're a core contributor to MyST Markdown and run on an open-core model: open-source formats and tools, with enterprise features for scale and security. Researcher-led and Y Combinator-backed, we are expanding beyond academic publishing into broader technical and industry workflows.
The Role
We're looking for a Senior Operations Lead to keep Curvenote running smoothly as we grow, who is genuinely energized by making things happen. This role is for someone who can handle almost anything, figure out what’s actually needed and build the simplest thing that solves it - from an invoicing process, a vendor contract or an internal system that needs setting up.
This is a hybrid ops role by design: on a small team, gaps show up and rarely with a clean brief. You'll work directly with our CEO and engineering leads, and have real influence over how Curvenote operates as we scale.
What You'll Do
- Notice the gaps before they become a problem - then go fix them.
- Take on ambitious one-off requests and turn them into a working solution fast, right-sized for our team.
- Own day-to-day company operations: payroll, benefits, contractor and vendor agreements, tooling, and internal process
- Support hiring end-to-end, job postings, candidate coordination, offer logistics, and onboarding for new hires
- Coordinate financial operations with our accountant: invoicing, expense management, budget tracking, and basic financial reporting
- Support business development and investor logistics: reporting cadences, and meeting prep
- Build the operational playbooks a small, fast-moving team doesn't have time to write, and keep them current as we grow
- Represent the product externally where useful: with partners, at conferences, in blog posts or documentation
What We're Looking For
- A track record of working through unscoped problems and finding a workable solution quickly, without needing a fully defined process to follow.
- 5+ years of operations experience at a startup, ideally spanning people ops, finance ops, and some exposure to technical/infrastructure operations
- Comfort being the operational generalist on a small team, you're equally at ease with a benefits renewal and a cloud hosting invoice
- Experience with SaaS billing, vendor management, and the standard startup tool stack (HRIS, payroll, spend management)
- Highly organized and trustworthy with sensitive information, you'll have visibility into finances, hiring, and infrastructure
- Comfort with ambiguity; there isn't a playbook for everything at this stage, and you'll be writing parts of it
- Excellent written communication for policies, vendor negotiations, and reporting to leadership
- Genuine interest in science, open access, or research infrastructure.
- Experience working within a distributed, remote and/or hybrid team
Nice to have
- Experience at a YC or venture-backed startup
- Experience managing cloud infrastructure costs or vendor relationships (AWS or similar)
Why Curvenote
- Work on infrastructure that actually changes how science gets shared
- Small team, high ownership, direct access to leadership
- Backed by YC and investors focused on scientific and open infrastructure
- A mission-aligned, technical, low-ego team
Submit cover letter and resume to: careers@curvenote.com
Curvenote is an equal opportunity employer. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and are committed to building a team as diverse as the research community we serve.