Who is Groundwork for?

Groundwork serves two groups. Groundwork is for candidates, typically experienced Director-level-ish operators, across most functional area (in particular Ops, Marketing, Finance, GTM, Growth, and People), who want to keep building meaningful careers in part-time, project or interim roles, without the all-or-nothing tradeoff. And Groundwork is for employers, typically early-stage, mission-aligned companies that need senior-level support but not necessarily in a full-time capacity.

Is Groundwork a recruiter, a job board, or a coaching program?

None of the above, and all three, in a way. Recruiters serve employers. Job boards serve volume. Coaching programs stop short of actually finding you work. Groundwork sits at the intersection: we help candidates with positioning and narrative, connect them to off-market opportunities through founder relationships, and stay close through role scoping, negotiation, and onboarding. For employers, we go deep on your business first, help shape the role, and introduce vetted operators from our network. The product is what happens when all of that works together.

What kinds of roles does Groundwork work on?

Part-time, fractional, interim and project-based roles across almost all functions, but we over-index in Ops, Marketing, Finance, GTM, Growth, and People. To date, our placements have primarily been at early-stage companies, and 80% of the roles are designed in partnership with founders, and never publicly posted to their website.

What kinds of companies does Groundwork work with?

We work best with early-stage (VC-backed, PE-backed, bootstrapped), mission-aligned organizations, where work can naturally scope to part-time and leadership is open to hiring differently. Many of our employer relationships are with founders who are parents themselves and understand firsthand the tension they're asking candidates to navigate. If you're the kind of company that sees flexible talent as a strategic advantage rather than a concession, we're probably a good fit.

How is this different from tapping into my own network?

Your network gives you access to your first and second degree connections - your close and loose ties. Groundwork gives you several layers of expanded access. We work directly with founders and hiring managers to create roles that are never publicly posted, and it allows you to never have to signal that you're looking. Our research has taught us that for candidates, the hardest part of this transition is continuously accessing roles and guidance on how to get hired into those roles. That's what we provide.

What happens after a placement?

We don't disappear after the introduction. For candidates, we stay close through onboarding and remain an ongoing resource for what comes next, whether that's navigating the role itself, thinking through the next opportunity, or simply staying connected to the network. For employers, we build a regular cadence to check in on the hire and continue thinking about evolving team needs. Most of our employer relationships started with a single hire and grew from there. That's a big part of what makes this model work well.

How did you get into this work?

We're scared of deathbed regrets. For a certain period of life, when caregiving responsibilities are at their most intense, working less, or differently, is a really important option that is unavailable for a lot of people right now. There's no infrastructure for it, no clear path back, and no way to do it without feeling like you're falling behind. That's why we're building Groundwork: to create a bridge through this chapter, and make it all a bit more joyful.