Building the future of recruiting.

Jerry Jao

Chief Executive Officer

Jerry brings more than two decades of experience building and scaling high-growth SaaS companies, with deep expertise in AI innovation, product led growth, and go-to-market execution. As the founder & CEO of Retention Science (ReSci), a predictive AI marketing software trusted by FORTUNE 100 companies like P&G, 3M, GoodRx, and Target, he led the company to recognition as one of Inc. Magazine’s Fastest Growing Companies before its acquisition by Constant Contact in 2020.

Following the acquisition, Jerry served as Senior Vice President and General Manager at Constant Contact, where he led product strategy, customer experience, and M&A initiatives—helping modernize technology for 500,000 small and mid-sized businesses.

Known for combining innovation with a people-first leadership philosophy, Jerry has been recognized by Inc. and Fast Company for his entrepreneurial impact and serves as an Independent Director and Audit Chair for FIGS (NYSE: FIGS). He holds a B.S. from UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business and received the most distinguished full tuition Alumni Scholar award at the university.

Amanda Berger

Chief Customer Officer

Amanda Berger brings more than 20 years of experience leading software and SaaS companies across a variety of industries spanning cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, ecommerce, and business intelligence. During her time as Chief Customer Officer at HackerOne, Lucidworks and RichRelevance, she spearheaded strategies for customer retention and expansion, ensuring successful outcomes through innovative technology solutions.

Prior to that, she spent time leading professional services for various public companies including global information management software provider, Guidance Software and global AI-powered business intelligence provider, MicroStrategy. Her passion for fostering strong customer relationships and leveraging technology to deliver value has been a driving force throughout her career.

Dara Brenner

Chief Product Officer

Dara Brenner is the Chief Product Officer of Employ Inc. who brings more than 25 years of executive leadership experience spanning product vision, business strategy, and organizational excellence. She has a proven track record of delivering customer-centric solutions, guiding companies through transformative growth, and building future-ready operating models.

As Chief Product Officer at Employ, she spearheaded a major evolution of the company’s product portfolio, including the integration of AI capabilities. Under her leadership, Dara set a new standard for HR technology, advancing the product strategy and delivering solutions that redefined how employers and job seekers connect.

Dara has held senior leadership positions at ADP, Equifax Workforce Solutions, and Ultimate Software/UKG, where she shaped strategic direction, drove operational advancements, and delivered industry-leading workforce technology. Notably, she founded and scaled ADP’s first Innovation Lab, pioneering the adoption of agile practices that reshaped how teams collaborated and accelerated delivery of forward-looking solutions across the organization.

As CPO of Employ, Dara is committed to advancing the company’s mission to reshape the hiring experience. She is passionate about driving product evolution, enabling long-term customer success, and ensuring that Employ continues to lead with innovation, integrity, and impact in the HR technology space.

Stephanie Manzelli

Chief People Officer

Stephanie Manzelli is Chief People Officer at Employ, where she leads global people strategy across talent, culture, and organizational effectiveness. She partners closely with executive teams to align workforce strategy with business outcomes and scale high-performing organizations.

She brings cross-industry HR leadership experience spanning retail, insurance, technology, and SaaS, with prior roles at SmartBear, TJX Companies, and Care.com.

Stephanie’s expertise includes HR strategy, employee engagement, talent acquisition, learning and development, employee relations, and total rewards. She is certified through MIT Sloan School of Management in AI Implications for Business Application and Strategy, equipping her to thoughtfully integrate AI into modern people practices.

Patrick (PJ) Jean

Chief Technology Officer

Patrick (PJ) Jean is Chief Technology Officer at Employ Inc., where he leads product engineering, platform architecture, and AI strategy to accelerate innovation across the company’s hiring solutions.  

With more than two decades of experience building and scaling enterprise SaaS platforms, PJ has led global engineering organizations and driven AI-powered product transformation. Most recently, he founded momentiq.ai, developing an AI platform focused on long-term memory, meta-learning, and agentic systems, while advising organizations on enterprise AI strategy and AI-native transformation.  

Previously, PJ served as Chief Product & Technology Officer at ABBYY, advancing intelligent automation and purpose-built AI innovation, and as CTO at OutSystems, helping scale one of the industry’s leading low-code platforms. Earlier in his career, he held senior engineering and technology roles at Citrix, Apttus, and Microsoft.  

Patrick is passionate about using technology to expand opportunity and believes meaningful work has a transformative impact on people’s lives.