General Manager in Residence
Designer Fund is a venture capital firm that invests in early-stage tech companies using design to improve health, sustainability, or prosperity for people. It backs founding teams, particularly those with design backgrounds, across sectors like fintech, healthcare, climate tech, and developer tools.
About Designer Fund
Designer Fund is an early-stage venture capital firm that invests in tech companies leveraging design to drive positive outcomes in health, sustainability, and financial prosperity. Its portfolio spans a wide range of sectors including financial infrastructure (Stripe), preventative health (Omada), collaborative tools (Notion), developer tools (Netlify), product management (Linear), payroll and benefits (Gusto), design tools (Framer), and healthcare infrastructure (Commure), among dozens of other companies across fintech, climate tech, healthcare, EdTech, and AI. The firm also runs 'Designer Founders,' a community and platform highlighting designers who have gone on to found and lead companies, reflecting its focus on backing design-driven founders and design-centric startups from early stages through growth and acquisition.
Skills
About the Role
You will start with a 2-month onboarding sprint in NYC. After that, you will spend your first year in a local market running a transit network transformation, taking full ownership of service performance, partner relationships, a 30+ frontline team, and $15M+ P&L. You will be deployed on Via's newest services in high-visibility markets that require building new operational systems from the ground up. At the end of this local deployment, you will transition into a General Manager role in one of Via's major markets: New York City, San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago, or Dallas. You'll arrive with the credibility and operational fluency to lead at that level from day one.
Requirements
- MBA preferred
- 5+ years of pre-MBA experience in operations, consulting, strategy, tech or a field with meaningful P&L or client accountability
- Demonstrated ability to lead and develop teams
- Willingness to be based in a specific location for the first year of the program, with relocation to a major metro market thereafter
- Full on-site presence required
Responsibilities
- Own and manage the end-to-end operating strategy of Via's service on behalf of the partner
- Define and manage against KPIs spanning on-time performance, rider satisfaction, safety, and cost efficiency
- Translate weekly and monthly performance data into decisions
- Lead a 30+ team of field operators and drivers, including hiring, coaching, performance management, and culture setting
- Build an operation where people feel accountable, supported, and proud of what they're delivering
- Develop frontline leaders within the team who can grow into expanded roles
- Own Via's relationship with the transit agency partner
- Represent Via to community stakeholders, local officials, and riders
- Drive continuous improvement across vehicle operations, maintenance protocols, and service delivery
- Identify and execute cost and efficiency improvements that strengthen margin without compromising service
- Influence the product roadmap for Via's newest Fixed Route products
Benefits
- Free medical plans
- 401K matching