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Founder Associate

$90k - $120k
Full-time

Clera

About the Role

This is a true 0-to-1 operator seat sitting directly alongside the founding team of a fast-growing AI recruiting startup. You will work across product, growth, operations, and key partnerships, driving whatever moves the company forward fastest. The role is pivotal in shaping the foundation of a category-defining platform in the AI talent space.

What You'll Do

  • Lead founder-priority projects spanning new market initiatives, strategy, and end-to-end execution.

  • Own the candidate experience and conversion funnel, improving quality and outcomes at scale.

  • Design and implement scalable operational processes that keep pace with rapid growth.

  • Support go-to-market efforts including messaging experiments and partnership development.

  • Translate real-world candidate and company feedback into actionable product priorities.

  • Switch independently across operations, recruiting, strategy, and special projects as business needs evolve.

What We're Looking For

  • Approximately 1 to 3 years of relevant professional experience in an operator, Founder Associate, Chief of Staff, or comparable startup role.

  • Substantial hands-on operations ownership, rather than a primarily product or technical background.

  • Proven ability to drive outcomes end-to-end with real ownership, not just support.

  • Comfort operating with ambiguity and context-switching across multiple functions at speed.

  • Background at high-performance organisations such as top-tier consulting firms, large tech companies, or early-stage startups is a strong signal.

  • Genuine desire to build, with a long-term goal of founding a company, becoming a GM, or stepping into an early executive role.

Compensation & Benefits

Salary range: $90,000 to $120,000 USD annually. Visa sponsorship is available.

Location

On-site in San Francisco, California, USA. This role is fully in-person with the founding team and is not open to remote or hybrid arrangements.

Vacancy posted 5 days ago
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