Landed Adds Veteran Advisor and Expands Platform Team for Frontline Hiring

Landed, a generative AI hiring platform built for frontline and hourly retail workers, is scaling its product integrations and enterprise footprint. According to PR Newswire, restaurant industry veteran Charles Jemley joined Landed as a formal advisor. Jemley, who served as CFO of Dutch Bros Coffee through its 2021 IPO and held senior finance leadership roles at Starbucks and Yum! Brands, will guide the company's expansion across major hospitality chains.

The San Francisco-based company now counts more than 1.7 million frontline workers and hundreds of employers on its network, including brands such as Cava, KFC, Five Guys, Erewhon, and Tao Group Hospitality.

Automating the Frontline Hiring Loop

Frontline retail and food service operations face high turnover rates that routinely average 130%, reaching as high as 200% following the pandemic, as CEO Vivian Wang noted in an interview on The Front Lines. Store managers can spend up to half their working hours sourcing and scheduling candidates rather than overseeing store operations.

Landed builds mobile-first software to handle this workflow. Job seekers upload 15-second video profiles answering standard interview questions alongside their shift availability, location, and experience. The software evaluates candidate profiles across 50 data points, including communication habits and availability, before matching applicants to nearby employers.

Once a hiring manager inputs staffing needs by headcount, role, and pay rate, Landed’s conversational AI interacts with candidates 24/7 to screen them and book interviews directly onto manager calendars. In an interview with Restaurant Technology News, Wang noted that clients like Grocery Outlet reduced their interview-to-hire ratio from 1 in 10 down to 1 in 3 while saving five recruiting hours each week. Franchise operators for Chick-fil-A and Applebee's told Business Insider that the system reduced weekly general manager recruiting time from upwards of 12 to 25 hours down to two hours.

Origins in Retail Operations

Landed was established in 2019 and launched to customers in March 2020 by Vivian Wang and Jacqueline Xu. Wang studied public and international affairs at Princeton University before working in corporate strategy at Gap Inc., where she focused on hourly labor turnover and workforce management systems. Xu studied computer science and business administration at UC Berkeley.

Two days after Landed’s commercial rollout, nationwide pandemic shutdowns forced retail stores to close. The founders adjusted quickly, shifting the matching platform to essential employers including quick-service restaurants and grocery chains. Landed participated in Y Combinator’s W19 batch and has raised $8.4 million in funding, including a seed round reported by TechCrunch co-led by Javelin Venture Partners and Blockchain Capital, with backing from Lightspeed Venture Partners.

Beyond recruitment, Landed plans to extend its platform toward broader worker retention tools, including financial products and upskilling programs designed to help hourly employees advance into shift supervisor and general manager roles.

Integrating with Enterprise HR Systems

Landed is building out its technical integrations and enterprise operations. Large restaurant groups and multi-unit franchises rely on established Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) and Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS), making seamless software connections critical for customer onboarding.

To lead this architecture, the company is hiring a Product Manager, Integrations ($110,000 - $125,000 USD, Remote US) to direct the roadmap for ATS and HR SaaS API integrations, working alongside engineers and technical leaders at client firms. Landed is also seeking a Product Manager ($120,000 - $140,000 USD, Remote or hubs in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Philadelphia) to focus on generative AI, user experience, and technical solution architecture for enterprise implementations.

Scaling Revenue and Internal Operations

On the commercial side, Landed is hiring an Account Executive ($120,000 - $140,000 USD, Remote US or Canada). The role reports directly to the CEO, manages full-cycle sales across SMB, mid-market, and enterprise tiers, and involves quarterly travel to industry conferences to develop new customer pipelines.

To support cross-departmental execution, Landed is hiring a Business Operations Manager ($100,000 - $125,000 USD, Remote US). The position acts as an internal advisor across operations, finance, strategy, and product, designing reporting dashboards and eliminating operational bottlenecks as the business grows.

Open Roles at Landed

See all open roles at Landed