Founder Associate to the CTO

Startupvalleys; Zürich; On-site; CHF 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Startupvalleys in Zürich seeks a Founders Associate to be the CTO's right hand. You’ll manage CTO Office operations, own strategic tech and business projects, and lead the first round of technical hires.

You’ll bridge technology and business, understand the product and infrastructure, and act as a trusted partner to engineers while shaping strategic decisions. You’ll bring a strong tech or business background, showcase ownership, and thrive in a fast-paced environment.

Qualifications

• Master level studies or a degree in CS or a related technical field, or in business with strong tech understanding.
• Strong business impact thinking beyond technology.
• Curiosity about AI, infrastructure, and emerging tech.
• Experience in fast-paced environments (startup/consulting/VC).
• Ownership mindset and ability to build processes from scratch.
• Pragmatic, fast-paced execution while maintaining quality.
• Structured, calm under pressure with excellent written and verbal English; German a plus.

Responsibilities

• Support CTO Office and executive priorities and agendas.
• Prepare briefing documents and ensure follow-ups on actions.
• Lead first-round technical hiring and coordinate interviews.
• Own strategic projects from discovery to board-ready materials.
• Evaluate technical partnerships and AI infrastructure opportunities.
• Translate tech topics into commercial stories for customers and investors.
• Contribute to pricing, product and go-to-market questions with a technical angle.
• Build scalable processes for the CTO office and engineering teams.

Skills

Commercial understanding

Tech curiosity

Startup experience

Ownership

Execution

Organizational talent

Communication

Education

Master's degree in Computer Science or related technical field

Business/Economics/Management degree

Job description

The Role

As Founders Associate in our office in Zurich, you'll be the right hand of our CTO, Max. You run the daily business of the CTO office, own strategic projects from start to finish, drive the first round of our technical hiring, and bridge technology and business. This is a true zero-to-one mandate.

Whether you come from computer science or business, you combine strong tech understanding with real commercial thinking. You won't be writing production code, but you'll understand our product and infrastructure well, be a trusted counterpart for our engineers, and know what technical decisions mean for the business.

What You'll Do

• CTO Office & Executive Support
• Manage our CTO's priorities so his time goes to what matters most
• Prepare briefing documents and agendas for important meetings and make sure every action item gets followed up
• Technical Hiring
• Run first-round calls with engineering candidates and coordinate the interview process with our team
• Strategic Projects
• Take full ownership of critical projects, from deep dives into emerging tech trends to board-level material
• Evaluate and drive strategic technical partnerships that keep us at the forefront of AI infrastructure
• Tech x Business
• Translate technical topics into commercial decisions and clear stories for customers, partners and investors
• Support pricing, product and go-to-market questions with a technical angle
• Build the processes the CTO office and engineering team need to scale

What We're Looking For

• Studies (preferably Master level) or a degree in computer science or a related technical field, OR in business, economics or management with a strong understanding of technology
• Very good commercial understanding: you think in business impact, not just technology
• Real curiosity for tech: you can follow and discuss AI and infrastructure topics with engineers
• First practical experience in a fast-paced environment such as a startup, consulting or VC
• Builder's mindset: you take high ownership and enjoy building processes from scratch
• Hustle & execution: you're pragmatic and move fast without losing sight of quality – a "get shit done" mentality is essential
• Organizational talent: you stay calm under pressure and work in a highly structured and precise way
• Communication: excellent written and verbal English, German is a plus

Bonus Points

• Exposure to AI, cloud or GPU infrastructure
• You've built something yourself: a side project, student initiative or venture

WHY US?

• Outstanding team: Work with some of the best engineers in the world, coming from hedge funds, big tech, AI startups and top universities
• Once in a lifetime opportunity: Early-stage company in the fastest-growing market in the world
• Ownership: Shape how European AI companies access GPU compute
• European mission: Build sovereign, GDPR-compliant AI infrastructure for the next generation of deep-tech