Business Systems Strategist

About Switchboard

Switchboard is a growing product studio for internal operations. We work with COOs, CFOs, and ops leaders at companies where the team has become the glue between disconnected systems, manual processes, and spreadsheets that everyone is eager to move on from. We build the custom software, AI-powered workflows, and automation that replaces the compromises they've learned to live with.

Every partnership starts by understanding how work really moves through an organization, then building the tools that match that reality. We're a small product-minded firm that takes the work seriously without taking ourselves too seriously. The challenges are real, and the things we build actually make people's jobs better.

The Role

Are you the person who looks at a 50-step, manual process and thinks, “certainly this could be 5 steps, right?”

As a Business Systems Strategist, you'll figure out how a client's business actually operates, then define what gets built to fix it. Not what to recommend in a deck, but what to build, and why.

Our model is prototype-first. Instead of long strategy engagements that end in abstract deliverables, we lead with a 2–6 week prototype that gives clients something real to react to. Strategy runs through this phase and every one after it, it just happens through the lens of building. You're the person who makes that possible: leading discovery, translating what you learn into clear product direction, and staying close to the work as it takes shape alongside Project Managers, Designers, and Developers.

What You'll Do

• Lead strategic discovery to surface bottlenecks, quantify impact, and understand priorities with client stakeholders from frontline staff to C-suite. You're mapping how work actually moves through the organization, not how the org chart says it should.
• Define what gets built and why. That might be a custom internal tool, an automated workflow, a set of integrations between existing systems, or an AI utility that handles work a human shouldn't be doing manually. You own the workflows and product direction, grounded in what you learned during discovery.
• Model current-state processes and data flows, then define the future state: product requirements, workflow designs, integration architecture, or automation specs that give the design and dev team a clear target.
• Scope prototypes that let clients see a working version of what we're proposing before committing to a full engagement. You define what the prototype covers, what it proves, and how it connects to the bigger picture.
• Evaluate and recommend the right technical approach for each client's context. Custom software, SaaS integrations, workflow automation, AI. You're not just picking tools. You're designing how the pieces fit together and what the client's team actually needs to operate better.
• Draft implementation roadmaps that sequence what gets built and when, so our development teams can execute and client leadership stays bought in.
• Translate technical trade-offs into clear narratives that move both CFOs and developers, without getting lost in jargon.
• Stay involved through the build. You're not handing off a strategy deck and walking away. You hold the thread on business context as the work takes shape, validate that what's being built matches what the client needs, and adjust course when things change in collaboration with your team (PM, designer, developer, BA).

What success looks like

• There’s a clear line from your work to the functioning products and automations. Whether it's a product spec, an automation design, or an integration plan, your output is clear enough that the team can start building without a translation layer in between.
• You pick the right approach, not just the most ambitious one. You know when the client needs a custom platform and when they need three smart automations and a cleaned-up data model. Clients trust your judgment because you solve the actual problem, not the most impressive-sounding version of it.
• Prototypes land. The scoping and direction you set consistently validates the right problem and convinces clients to move forward.
• Implementation runs on time and on budget because your requirements, workflows, and data models are clear and grounded in reality.
• Developers and designers want to work with you because your specs are well-thought-out, your technical direction is sound, and you're available when questions come up during the build.
• Clients come back. They ask, "what else can we build together?" because the first engagement actually changed how their team operates.

Who We're Looking For

• 5+ years combining consulting-style discovery with hands-on systems design for mid-market clients. This could be in consulting, agency, or internal transformation roles. What matters is that you've led discovery, defined workflows that map to clear product direction, and stayed close enough to delivery to know whether your thinking held up.
• You think in systems, not just processes. You can diagram complex workflows and spot bottlenecks quickly. But you also see the bigger picture: how data flows across an organization, where integrations break down, and what combination of tools, automation, and custom software actually fixes the problem. You're comfortable with relational schemas, API patterns, modern SaaS and designing clean handoffs between systems. You don’t need to write the code, but understanding how data moves and where it gets lost.
• You can run a room. You're equally comfortable with frontline staff and a CEO asking hard questions about ROI. You ask the right questions, synthesize fast, and earn trust with people who've heard a lot of consultants promise a lot of things.
• You already use AI in your own work. Not as a novelty, but as a thinking partner for analysis, scoping, pressure-testing approaches, and moving faster. You bring that same mindset into client work, helping non-technical leaders see what's actually possible. If you're still doing everything from scratch by hand, you'll be slower than the rest of the team.

Nice-to-haves

• Experience working with mid-market companies' existing systems (CRMs, ERPs, legacy platforms) and understanding the integration and data migration realities that come with them.
• Hands-on familiarity with automation and workflow tools (Zapier, Make, n8n, or similar) and a sense for when those tools are the right call versus a custom build.
• Basic SQL or Python skills for quick data analysis or proof-of-concepting.
• Understanding of how mid-market companies think about budgets, timelines, and resources when investing in operational improvements.
• Experience helping non-technical teams adopt new tools and workflows without overwhelming them.

What you'll get

• Real impact. Your strategies and technical direction become the backbone of growing companies' operations. The things you design get built and used.
• Strong team. No layers, rapid decisions, healthy support and collaboration. You'll work alongside a tight pod that ships real work.
• Remote-first. Anywhere in North America with at least 3 hours of PST overlap.
• Growth opportunity. Shape your role in an evolving space at the intersection of business strategy, operational design, and AI-powered development.
• Culture built on making others successful, learning every week, and building things that matter.
• Competitive compensation, three weeks off, and a team that cares about doing meaningful work without burning out.

We care about what you've actually done more than whether you check every box. If this sounds like you but your background doesn't follow a traditional path, we still want to hear from you.

Key skills/competency

• Business Process Modeling
• System Design
• Workflow Automation
• AI Integration
• Stakeholder Management
• Product Strategy
• Data Flow Analysis
• Consulting
• Solution Architecture
• Technical Translation