01Founders' AssociateFounders' AssociateAachen or Landshut, Germany

Athenyx Robotics; Aachen; On-site; EUR 60,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Athenyx Robotics is seeking a Founders' Associate to work closely with the three founders, owning finance, operations and strategic problem solving. This role requires high ownership, structure in ambiguity, and the ability to deliver reliable outcomes on diverse tasks from budgets to communications.

You will support cash flow, cost analyses, and reporting while coordinating with tax advisors, suppliers and external partners.

Qualifications

• 2–5 years of relevant experience.
• Strong analytical skills with Excel, PowerPoint and numbers.
• German at native or near native level (C2) and excellent English.

Responsibilities

• Own finance and management support topics: cash, cost analyses, forecasts, invoices and reporting.
• Keep company operations running smoothly across procurement, insurance, external providers and contracts.
• Tackle urgent or unclear special projects and deliver reliable outcomes.
• Drive operational work for public funding projects: applications, budgets, documentation, reporting and deadlines.
• Prepare presentations, meetings and management material; manage follow ups.
• Support company communication, including LinkedIn posts and external materials.
• Back strategic questions with market, competitor and technology research and turn findings into decision material for founders.

Job description

At Athenyx Robotics, we are building the intelligence stack for industrial Physical AI and humanoid robotics. Together with partners such as BMW, we bring modern AI and robotics to real industrial environments across different robot platforms.

As Founders' Associate, you work closely with our three founders and own the operational topics that keep a fast growing deep tech company moving: finance, operations, and whatever needs solving next.

This is not a classic assistant role. We're looking for high agency people who bring structure to ambiguity and get things done, and who'll grow into supporting strategic questions as they prove it.

The work

• —Own finance and management support topics such as cash and cost analyses, forecasts, invoices, reporting and coordination with our tax advisor.
• —Keep company operations running smoothly across procurement, insurance, external providers, contracts and administrative processes.
• —Take on urgent or unclear special projects, figure out what matters and bring them to a reliable outcome.
• —Drive the operational side of public funding projects, including applications, budgets, documentation, reporting and deadlines.
• —Prepare presentations, meetings and management material and keep important follow ups moving.
• —Support selected company communication when needed, including LinkedIn posts, announcements and external company material.
• —Support strategic questions with market, competitor and technology research and turn findings into concise decision material for the founders.

About you

• —Ideally 2 to 5 years of relevant experience. Exceptional graduates with a strong track record, the right background and personality are equally welcome.
• —High ownership. You do not wait for perfect instructions and you are comfortable solving problems you have never seen before.
• —Strong analytical skills and confidence with Excel, PowerPoint and numbers. You can structure messy information and challenge assumptions.
• —Solid finance and business intuition. P&L, cash flow, costs, invoices and budgets should not intimidate you.
• —German at native or near native level, C2, and excellent English in writing and conversation.
• —Exceptional reliability, attention to detail and integrity. You will see sensitive financial, contractual, personnel and strategic information.
• —Good judgment. You know what you can own, what needs a recommendation and what requires a founder decision.
• —AI native. You use modern AI tools and agents to move faster on research, analysis, drafting and operations, and you know when outputs need verification.
• —Curiosity for robotics, AI and industrial technology. You do not need to code, but you should want to understand what we are building.
• —Experience in a startup, Founders Office, business operations, consulting, corporate finance or another high ownership environment.
• —Experience with DATEV, funding programs, procurement, CRM systems or early stage startup finance.
• —A background in business, industrial engineering, economics, information systems or another analytical field.
• —Work directly with the founders and see how a deep tech company is built from the inside.
• —High ownership from day one. Your job is to remove friction and create leverage.
• —A broad scope across finance, operations, management support and company building, with growing exposure to strategic work.
• —Real responsibility, short decision paths and direct access to customers, partners and investors.
• —Room to grow the role into Business Operations or a broader Founders Office function.