Why This Job is Featured on The SaaS Jobs
Deal Strategy and Operations roles sit at a key junction in SaaS: the point where product packaging, pricing logic, and contract terms become repeatable revenue. Clay’s emphasis on AI-enabled process optimization signals a modern deal desk mandate, where commercial governance is designed alongside automation rather than handled as a back-office checkpoint. For SaaS businesses with varied customer segments and non-standard requests, this function is often where scalability is protected.
The career upside in SaaS is the breadth of exposure across the revenue engine. Work that spans CPQ and CRM workflows, approval matrices, discounting patterns, and revenue recognition creates a durable foundation for RevOps, GTM strategy, or finance-adjacent leadership paths. Building dashboards around deal velocity and approval times also develops an operator’s view of how friction shows up in funnel metrics, and how systems and policy changes translate into measurable outcomes.
This role tends to fit professionals who enjoy structured problem-solving and can translate ambiguity into clear playbooks. It suits someone comfortable partnering with Sales, Customer Experience, Legal, and Accounting while maintaining consistent commercial standards. An interest in applied automation and analytics, paired with strong attention to detail, is the clearest signal of alignment.
The section above is editorial commentary from The SaaS Jobs, provided to help SaaS professionals understand the role in a broader industry context.
Job Description
About Clay
Our mission is to help organizations turn any growth idea into reality.
We see growth as a creative practice, not a formula. Finding and reaching your best-fit customers takes unique ideas and constant iteration. As AI makes execution faster and tactics easier to copy, creativity is the only lasting advantage. We're already helping thousands of customers — including Anthropic, Notion, Google, and Ramp — go to market with unique data, signals, and AI research.
In 2025, we raised a $100M Series C backed by world-class investors including Sequoia, CapitalG, and First Round — and crossed $100M in revenue.
In 2026, we announced our second employee tender offer in 9 months at a new $5B valuation. We also launched a community equity round, for our customers, agency partners, and club members.
Some things to know about us:
Our community includes 11,000+ customers, 150+ integration partners, 125+ agencies, 50+ Clay clubs, and 30k members on Slack.
Our cultureis unique inside and outside of work. Our team members are also DJs, activists, writers, clowns, marathoners, skydivers, psychedelic therapists, social workers, and more.
All employees can work for free with world-class coaches who specialize in creativity, management, and more.
Our operating principles — including negative maintenance and non-attached action — guide our work. Read more about them here.
Read about us in the NYT, Forbes, First Round Review, and more.
Hear from our employees directly on our Glassdoor page!
Deal Strategy & Ops @ Clay
We're looking for a Deal Strategy Associate who combines deal structuring expertise with a passion for AI-driven process optimization. This role is critical in accelerating deal velocity through intelligent automation while ensuring compliance with company policies and maximizing deal value. You'll serve as a trusted advisor to sales teams, providing deal structuring guidance, pricing optimization, and contract negotiation support—all while leveraging AI tools and automation to scale our operations. This is a high-impact role for someone who thrives in fast-paced environments and wants to directly influence revenue growth through strategic deal management and innovative process automation.
What You'll Do
Deal Operations & Execution
Partner with GTME (Sales) and GS (CX) teams to structure non-standard and complex deals, ensuring alignment with company guidelines and revenue recognition policies
Review and approve deal terms, pricing, and discount structures within established approval matrices
Guide pricing negotiations, commercial terms, payment terms, and special provisions while maintaining margin targets
Collaborate with Legal, Revenue Operations, and Accounting to ensure deal compliance, accurate booking, and revenue recognition
Process Documentation & Automation
Develop and maintain deal desk policies, guidelines, playbooks, and best practices documentation
Implement and optimize AI and automation tools for contract analysis, issue alerts, and automated decision support
Create dashboards and automated reporting systems on key metrics, including deal velocity, approval times, and discount trends
Facilitate pricing training and enablement for fast-growing GTME and GS teams
What You'll Bring
Bachelor's degree in Business, Finance, Economics, or related fields
3-6 years of experience in deal desk, sales operations, finance, or a related analytical role
Proficiency in CPQ tools and CRM systems (Salesforce preferred)
Advanced Excel/Google Sheets skills, including financial modeling and data analysis
Strong quantitative and analytical skills with exceptional attention to detail
Demonstrated ability to identify manual processes and design scalable automation solutions
Excellent communication skills with the ability to interact effectively with customer-facing teams and executives
Strong business acumen and understanding of sales processes
Nice to Haves
Experience with usage-based subscription business models
Familiarity with LLMs (GPT, Claude, etc.) and prompt engineering for business applications
Experience with automation tools (Zapier, Clay) or a strong interest in learning them
Knowledge of no-code/low-code platforms for building internal tools
Experience with contract lifecycle management (CLM) systems
Familiarity with revenue recognition principles (ASC 606)
Understanding of legal and contractual terms
