Founders Associate

ABOUT THE ROLE This is a core operator role working directly with the founders of an early-stage AI company serving the sea and air freight industry. You will own high-leverage workstreams end-to-end, helping scale both product and operations in a small, fast-moving team. It is a rare opportunity to grow into senior operating or founding responsibility with direct founder mentorship. WHAT YOU'LL DO - Own and run cross-functional projects spanning finance, operations, compliance, and people. - Build and manage internal systems, tooling, and automations that enable the company to scale. - Lead recruiting efforts end-to-end, including sourcing, interviewing, and onboarding new team members. - Support go-to-market initiatives and help bring AI agent products to enterprise customers. - Step into whatever challenge moves the company forward, from board preparation to vendor management. - Work shoulder-to-shoulder with founders on the highest-priority problems at any given moment. WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR - 2+ years of experience in generalist, operating, consulting, or founding roles, ideally in early-stage or high-agency environments. - Proven ability to build internal systems, tooling, and automations hands-on, not just direct others to do so. - Technical background or strong intuition for AI, software architecture, and automation, with the ability to evaluate technical feasibility. - Fluency in both German and English, with clear communication across technical and non-technical stakeholders. - Experience running cross-functional projects end-to-end across business functions including finance and operations. - Experience supporting B2B go-to-market initiatives and enterprise customer engagement. - Comfort owning outcomes with minimal supervision and managing ambiguous, high-priority workstreams. - Ability to shift fluidly between big-picture thinking and detailed execution within the same day. - Familiarity with logistics, supply chain, or enterprise operations is a plus. - Background in consulting or strategy with exposure to process optimization is a plus. - Aspiration to build something meaningful and potentially start your own company one day. COMPENSATION & BENEFITS Competitive salary plus meaningful equity participation. Visa sponsorship is not available; local work authorization is required. LOCATION Berlin, Germany. On-site, with in-person work strongly preferred.