EU remote
Chief of Staff / Founders Associate
About this role
ABOUT THE ROLE This is a founder residency at an early-stage AI company, sitting directly in the leadership orbit and working hand-in-hand with the CEO to turn vision into execution. You'll own the highest-stakes, most ambiguous problems across growth, hiring, finance, ops, and expansion — the kind that don't yet have an owner. It's a rare opportunity to shape how a category-defining AI company scales from the inside.
WHAT YOU'LL DO - Partner with the CEO to translate high-level strategy into concrete execution across all business functions. - Own the end-to-end hiring engine for the next wave of critical hires, from planning through closing candidates. - Build and maintain financial reporting, budgeting, and KPI dashboards that give founders and the board complete clarity. - Design the operating system — cadences, processes, and communication loops — that lets the company scale without losing speed, with AI automation baked in by default.
- Lead strategic projects from zero to done: market entry, pricing architecture, partnership structures, and other high-stakes initiatives. - Manage the fundraising process end-to-end: data rooms, investor narratives, updates, and board relations. - Identify and solve the problems nobody else owns yet, moving fast in ambiguous, high-pressure situations. WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR - 2+ years in a high-intensity environment: top-tier strategy consulting, investment banking, a fast-moving VC-backed startup, or founding a real product.
- Deep fluency in business fundamentals — P&L, SaaS metrics, unit economics, and financial modeling. - Proven experience designing and implementing operational processes, cadences, and communication systems at growing companies. - Hands-on experience managing end-to-end hiring and fundraising processes, including data room preparation and board reporting. - Strong written communication skills — you write in memos and turn complex technical or financial concepts into clear narratives for investors and boards.
- AI-native mindset: you use AI tools daily and have a genuine point of view on how an AI-first company should operate internally. - High agency and comfort with ambiguity — you write the playbook rather than waiting for one. - Background in industrial operations, supply chain, or enterprise B2B sales is a plus. - Fluent in both English and German (C1+ level in each) — required. LOCATION On-site in Berlin, Germany. Visa sponsorship is not available.
Source listing: ashby_clera