Growth Lead

About MeritFirst

At MeritFirst, we’re on a mission to revolutionize how companies identify and evaluate talent, regardless of background. By rejecting outdated, unreliable proxies for capability and embracing objective, merit-based assessments, we are rebuilding the meritocratic infrastructure of opportunity from the ground up.

Role Overview

You will be the engine behind our candidate supply, responsible for turning MeritFirst into a beacon for overlooked and high-potential talent. Your mandate is to acquire the candidates who are hungry to prove their skills. You won’t just buy ads; you will build a movement. From designing viral referral loops and gamifying the assessment experience to hacking distribution through communities and content, you will do whatever it takes to build a massive, high-quality talent pool. You are the bridge between hidden genius and the opportunity it deserves.

What You’ll Do

• Ignite user acquisition: Architect and execute strategies to drive massive candidate sign-ups. You will experiment across channels - social media (TikTok/LinkedIn), niche communities (Reddit/Discord), influencers, partnerships, and events.

• Engineer viral loops: Design product mechanisms that encourage candidates to share their assessment scores and invite peers.

• Optimize the candidate funnel: Obsess over the user journey from "landing page visitor" to "completed assessment." You will use A/B testing and behavioral psychology to reduce friction and increase completion rates.

• Build the "Merit" brand: Craft the narrative that empowers candidates to reject the resume and embrace the test. You will be the voice of the underdog, creating content that resonates with job seekers tired of the status quo.

• Leverage programmatic SEO & AI: Use AI to generate content and landing pages at scale, capturing long-tail search intent for job seekers in specific industries or skill sets.

Qualifications

• B2C Growth DNA: You understand consumer psychology and have a track record of driving user growth for a consumer app, marketplace, or community-led product.

• Viral mechanic expertise: You know how to calculate K-factors and have experience building referral programs or product loops that drive organic growth.

• Data-driven experimentation: You live in the data. You are comfortable analyzing cohort retention, drop-off points, and acquisition costs.

• AI-native: You use AI tools daily to create content, automate community moderation, and personalize candidate communication at scale.

• Scrappy distributor: You don’t wait for a marketing budget. You find where the users are - whether it’s a coding bootcamp Slack, a university forum, or a Twitter thread - and you go get them.

Why Join Us?

1. Autonomy: rapid growth with outsized ownership and scope

2. Meritocracy: We focus on real capabilities, not credentials. You’ll be assessed based on your skills and ability to execute, not the name of your school or employer.

3. Innovation: Work on cutting-edge projects that challenge the status quo and empower people to succeed.

4. Backed by the best: We’re funded by 8VC and Slow Ventures, with support from world-class builders like Joe Lonsdale and Sam Lessin who’ve helped scale some of the most influential tech companies of the last decade.

Our Process

We practice what we preach. Core to our thesis is that resumes, school names, and pedigree are poor proxies for capability. We want to see what you can actually do.

We have designed a hiring process that gives everyone a fair shot to showcase their skills through objective work samples.

The Steps:

1. Assessment 1 (The Gateway): Linked here. Want to jump the line? You can start this right now. We prioritize candidates who have data on the board.

2. Team Screen: A conversation with a member of our team to discuss your background, our company, and the results of your first assessment.

3. Assessment 2 (The Deep Dive): A "Navigating Ambiguity" work sample designed to mimic actual challenges you might face in the role.

4. Work Sample Debrief: A deep-dive interview where we discuss your approach to Assessment 2.

5. Final Sync: A final conversation with one or more members of our team.

Important Note on Location:

We are an in-person team based in Austin, TX. We believe the speed of iteration required at this stage happens best when we are in the same room.

The "No Dead Ends" Guarantee:

Even if this specific role isn't the right fit - or if the location doesn't work out - your effort won't be wasted. By completing our assessments, you will create a verified profile in the MeritFirst Talent Network. This allows you to showcase your validated skills to other world-class companies in our ecosystem without having to apply from scratch.