Strategy Manager

About Lokal

In 2018, we began with a WhatsApp group with a simple hypothesis: people in tier-2/3 towns weren’t really using the internet meaningfully yet. We believed that if we started with local content in their own language, they’d come back every day; once there was a habit and trust, that same space could naturally grow into classifieds and, eventually, something they used for almost everything online.This spark became Lokal. Our first instinct was to put everything in one place & one app - local updates, classifieds, jobs, matrimony and more. It worked, till it stopped working. Users gave us the insight - when one use case outweighs the others, everything else seems like noise. We listened. Like how Craigslist quietly seeded a generation of focused companies & marketplaces, we began unbundling and verticalising.

Today, Lokal is a house of focused apps, many products, one mission:

To connect Tier-2/3+ India to the Knowledge, opportunities, tools and experts they’ve always deserved.We now operate dozens of live apps across categories like:

• Edutainment & Skill Learning – practical skills and learning in regional languages (GyanTV)
• Matrimonial Matchmaking – hyperlocal, compatibility-first partner search (Lokal Matrimony)
• Agri Consulting – farmer-first advisory in local languages (AgriLokal)
• Local Jobs – blue- and grey-collar opportunities close to home (Lokal Jobs, Sahi Jobs)
• Social & Community – Place to find & post social updates (Lokal app)
• Emotional Well-being & Peer Support – safe spaces to talk and feel heard (Dostt & Eaze)
• Astrology & Guidance – instant access to trusted Astrologers via chat and voice (AstroLokal)
• Advisory Services – early bets in legal help, financial guidance, career counselling, and more

• Under the hood, Lokal is a discovery and access platform: local-language internet + deep Bharat insight+ AI. When someone opens a product we’ve built, they don’t wade through clutter; they get a straight line to what they came for.This is the story new teammates walk into:
  A company that started as a whatsapp group, became a family of focused apps, and kept one belief at the centre — access changes lives.We ship fast. We learn fast. We build for Bharat.We are backed by leading global and domestic investors including Y Combinator, Sony, Global Brain, India Quotient, and 3one4 Capital

About Astrolokal

Astrolokal is building the future of spiritual and wellness guidance by connecting users with trusted astrologers through a seamless digital experience. As we scale, we’re looking for someone who can help identify, validate, and execute our next growth opportunities across markets and customer segments. 

About the Role

We are looking for an entrepreneurial, highly analytical, and execution-oriented individual to lead strategic initiatives and new market exploration for Astrolokal.

This role is ideal for someone who enjoys solving ambiguous problems, building from first principles, and turning ideas into scalable businesses. You will work closely with leadership to identify growth opportunities, evaluate new markets, design experiments, launch pilots, and develop playbooks for future expansion.

This is not a traditional strategy role. We are looking for someone who can move fluidly between research, analysis, experimentation, execution, and decision-making.

Key Responsibilities

New Markets & Expansion

• Evaluate opportunities across domestic and international markets.
• Conduct market sizing, customer research, competitive analysis, and feasibility assessments.
• Develop recommendations on market entry and expansion priorities.

Strategic Initiatives

• Identify and assess new growth opportunities, business models, partnerships, and customer segments.
• Drive high-priority cross-functional initiatives from concept to execution.
• Support leadership in evaluating strategic bets and investment decisions.

Experimentation & Validation

• Convert ideas into clear hypotheses and measurable experiments.
• Design and launch pilots to validate demand, supply, pricing, retention, and operational assumptions.
• Use data and customer insights to determine whether to scale, pivot, or stop initiatives.

Analytics & Business Insights

• Build business cases and opportunity assessments.
• Analyze user behavior, marketplace dynamics, and growth drivers.
• Track performance and recommend actions based on data.

Cross-Functional Execution

• Partner closely with Product, Marketing, Operations, Supply, and Analytics teams.
• Drive execution independently where required.
• Build repeatable frameworks and playbooks for future initiatives.

Must-Have Qualifications

• 3-5 years of experience in Founder’s Office, Strategic Initiatives, Growth, General Management, Business Operations, Product Strategy, or startup leadership roles.
• Proven experience building or launching something from zero to one.
• Strong problem-solving and structured thinking skills.
• Highly analytical with comfort working with data, metrics, and business models.
• Ability to thrive in ambiguity and take ownership without defined playbooks.
• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Demonstrated bias for action and execution.