Senior Associate, Strategic Initiatives

The Strategic Initiatives team builds internal software and financial models that run parts of GoodLeap's lending programs. This role is built for someone with a strong finance, analytical, or operations background who is genuinely curious about what AI coding tools can do.

The Senior Associate learns to work directly with GoodLeap teams to understand a problem, then uses AI coding agents (Claude Code and similar tools) alongside a more senior teammate to turn that problem into a working model, tool, or feature. Over time, this role takes on more of the build independently.

Essential Job Duties and Responsibilities:

User Discovery & Problem Definition:

• Meet directly with business users to understand how they work today and where the process breaks down.
• Document workflows clearly enough that a solution can be scoped and tested against a real problem.
• Distinguish a real product problem from a training issue or a one-off complaint.

Building With AI Agents:

• Learn to direct AI coding agents to build financial models, internal tools, and product features under guidance from a Manager or Director.
• Prototype quickly, put early versions in front of the requesting user, and adjust based on what actually happens when they use it.
• Review AI-generated output for correctness before it reaches a user or a production system.
• Take on increasing scope independently as judgment and technical fluency grow.

Financial & Analytical Work:

• Build and maintain financial models and analyses supporting GoodLeap's lending programs.
• Flag assumptions, data issues, or edge cases that could change a model's output before they become someone else's problem.

Ownership & Follow-Through:

• Support and maintain tools after they ship: handle user questions, fix small issues, and add minor improvements.
• Escalate anything that looks like an architecture, data, or infrastructure decision rather than working around it.

Required Skills, Knowledge and Abilities:

• Bachelor's degree in Finance, Business, Economics, or a related quantitative field.
• 4+ years of experience in a finance, analytical, or operations role.
• Curiosity: about how things work and what AI tools can do, evidenced by something you taught yourself rather than were assigned to do.
• Perseverance: a track record of sticking with an ambiguous or frustrating problem, through failed attempts, until it actually works.
• Critical thinking: the ability to break a messy business problem into clear logic before jumping to a solution.
• Advanced Excel skills and general comfort working with data.
• No prior coding or software engineering experience required. What matters is a demonstrated interest in AI tools and the willingness to learn to direct them.
• Clear written and verbal communication; comfortable presenting findings to non-technical stakeholders.
• Experience with internal software, financial services, lending, or AI tools is a plus but not required.