Founders Associate

Start up - VC backed - Remote first working, monthly meetups London

The Talent Collective are working with an exciting early stage start up, looking for an exceptional individual to join as a Founder's Associate. The company are building a category-defining infrastructure with real-world impact to the government procurement process.

Governments spend trillions on goods and services through procurement processes that are slow, opaque and expensive. This company is changing that. Their platform connects public-sector buyers with the right suppliers and uses agentic AI to automate the regulatory and process-heavy work that slows procurement down.

They are a well-funded, fast-growing team with strong momentum in the US market and expansion underway.

The Role

As Founder's Associate, you will work in the CEO's office across multiple areas in the business. You will be the bridge between business and technology: spotting the problems that matter most, structuring them, and rallying teams across the company to solve them.

This is an internal, cross-functional role. At any time you will own two or three of the company's biggest priorities, set clear targets, build the data to track them, and drive them to measurable results.

You will work for the business as a whole, not for a single function, and you will lead through influence rather than authority.

What You'll Do

• Own the CEO's top priorities. Take on two or three high-impact problems at a time, from definition through to delivery, then move on to the next.
• Turn ambiguity into a plan. Break down messy, cross-functional problems, define what success looks like, and set targets teams can commit to.
• Build the data. Create dashboards and trackers that make progress visible, and use them to drive decisions and accountability.
• Lead without authority. Align product, operations, growth and supplier teams around shared goals, and give them the tools and best practices to hit them.
• Be the CEO's eyes and ears. Prepare, run and follow through on key meetings; surface risks and opportunities early; keep the business moving while the CEO is on the road.
• Tackle platform health. Help solve challenges such as keeping transactions on-platform and improving how buyers and suppliers engage.

What You'll Bring

• 3-10 years from a top strategy consulting firm, or execution-focused work with other startups - you know your frameworks, but you are happiest when things actually ship.
• Data fluency. You are comfortable building dashboards and analyses and turning numbers into a clear story.
• Excellent communication. You write and speak clearly and adapt to any audience, from engineers to senior leaders.
• Gravitas and maturity. You are confident working alongside people with decades of experience, and you can hold the room.
• Ownership. You are a self-starter who needs little direction and thrives in a fast-moving, largely remote team. • Creative problem solving. You approach problems with curiosity and use AI tools naturally in how you work.
• A strong track record of achievement, in your academic and professional career.
• A positive, can-do attitude.

Bonus points

• Experience in the public sector, government, or mission-driven organisations
• Experience at an AI-first company serving regulated industries such as legal, financial services or procurement.
• Previous startup experience.

Why Join

• Real impact: help governments spend smarter and save taxpayer money at scale.
• Direct access to the CEO: high ownership, real accountability and a steep learning curve.
• Momentum: a well-funded company with strong traction, entering its next phase of international growth.
• AI at the core: work on agentic AI applied to high-stakes, regulated processes.
• Compensation: competitive salary
• Remote first working

Location Ideally London-based, working largely remotely. The team meets in person once a month at our London WeWork.