AI & Automation Manager, Business Operations

Team: Business Operations Reports to: Business Operations Lead Location: New York City In-office: 3 days per week (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) About Axial Axial's mission is to unleash the power of private capital markets for entrepreneurs - and we’re doing so by pioneering an online platform that is transforming American small business M&A. Founded in 2009, Axial is an NYC-based financial technology platform that serves over 10,000 private market M&A  participants, including private equity firms, corporate acquirers, boutique investment banks, and business owners looking to sell their companies. In 2025, Axial powered the exit efforts of about half of the U.S. small and mid-sized business (SMB) M&A market - companies doing between $5M and $100M revenue - by facilitating 3,000,000+ buyer <> seller platform connections across 12,500+ deals. We're a lean, high-conviction team building category-defining products for a market that moves quickly and trusts carefully. That context shapes everything about how we work. Overview We are seeking an experienced AI & Automation Manager to design, build, and continuously improve AI-powered workflows, automations, and internal tools that transform how Axial operates. This is a highly technical, hands-on role for someone who enjoys building but is equally energized by determining what should be built, why it matters, and how it should evolve over time. Working closely with the VP of Operations and Business Operations Lead, you will help shape Axial's internal AI & Automation strategy by identifying high-impact opportunities, evaluating emerging capabilities, and translating ambiguous business challenges into scalable technical solutions. You will serve as a key technical stakeholder for AI and automation within Business Operations. Your work will span AI agents, workflow orchestration, internal applications, data infrastructure, and lightweight product development. You will build durable solutions that improve operational efficiency and create better experiences for employees and members. As AI capabilities continue to evolve, you will help Axial identify, evaluate, and apply emerging technologies that create meaningful business value. You will spend much of your time building LLM-powered solutions and working in tools such as n8n, Claude Code, Zapier, Clay, and Google Apps Script, while integrating with platforms including Salesforce, HubSpot, Outreach, Gong, and other internal applications. Your work will range from intelligent member verification and AI-powered support to internal copilots, operational automations, and business applications that increase productivity, improve decision-making, and reduce manual work across the company. Responsibilities AI Systems Development: Build, deploy, and improve AI-powered workflows, agents, and business applications using LLMs, structured outputs, evaluations, and tools such as Claude Code and Cursor. Deliver reliable solutions for critical workflows across go-to-market, operations, and member experiences. Automation & GTM Engineering: Develop and maintain sophisticated workflows using platforms such as n8n, Zapier, Clay, and Google Apps Script. Build integrations and data processes across Salesforce, HubSpot, Outreach, Gong, and related systems to eliminate manual work and enable GTM execution. Internal Applications & Operational Products: Create lightweight internal applications, operational tools, dashboards, copilots, and AI-powered interfaces using low-code platforms, AI-assisted development, and custom code. Deliver intuitive products that help teams work more efficiently and make better decisions. AI Architecture & Data Infrastructure: Help establish the technical and data foundations required for reliable AI & automation solutions. Connect AI models to business data and external applications using APIs, tool calling, context management, retrieval-augmented generation, MCPs, vector databases, and comparable approaches.  AI & Automation Strategy and Roadmap: Partner with Business Operations leadership to develop our AI & automation strategy and project roadmap. Evaluate emerging tools and recommend what we should prioritize to help shape Axial’s long-term operations objectives. Qualifications Experience: 5-8 years of experience designing and building technical solutions within Business Operations, GTM Engineering, RevOps, Automation, Software Engineering, or similar technical operating roles at a high-growth technology company. Interested in this work but earlier in your career? Explore our  GTM Engineer role, designed for candidates with 1-4 years of experience. Operating Experience : Experience partnering with business leaders to identify operational bottlenecks, redesign workflows, and translate business objectives into durable technical solutions. Comfortable navigating ambiguity and balancing competing priorities across multiple stakeholders. Tool Experience: Strong hands-on experience across several of the following areas: LLMs and AI-assisted development tools such as Claude Code or Cursor; workflow automation platforms such as n8n, Zapier, Clay, Make, or Google Apps Script; and GTM systems such as Salesforce, HubSpot, Outreach, and Gong.  Technical Proficiency: Comfortable writing and maintaining code in JavaScript, Python, SQL, Apps Script, or similar languages to extend automations, integrations, and internal applications. Experience working with APIs, authentication, webhooks, and structured data. Systems Thinking: Demonstrated ability to decompose complex operational problems and balance speed, maintainability, reliability, security, and user experience when developing solutions. Product & Business Judgment: Able to determine not only how to build a solution, but whether it should be built, how success should be measured, and how it fits within broader business priorities and technical architecture. Ownership: History of independentl