Founder's Associate - New Venture

iBanFirst; Paris; Hybride; EUR 60 000 - 90 000; Plein temps

Avantages offerts par ce poste

Health insurance

Pension/retirement plan

Meal or lunch benefits

Commuter or transport support

Gym or wellbeing benefits

Paid annual leave

Paid parental leave

Company events

Résumé du poste

iBanFirst seeks a Founder's Associate to work directly with the Founder & CEO. This role blends strategy, market exploration, business development and hands-on project execution to turn an idea into a scalable venture.

You will test assumptions, coordinate stakeholders and build operating processes with autonomy, speed and rigorous decision-making, across London, Paris or Brussels.

Qualifications

• Fluent English in professional settings (written and spoken).
• Structured and analytical thinking to break down complex problems.
• Strong execution skills from idea to concrete plan.

Responsabilités

• Support the Founder & CEO in refining the venture’s vision and priorities.
• Conduct market research, competitor analysis and customer discovery.
• Coordinate workstreams and ensure timely progress across stakeholders.
• Help design operating models, processes and tools for early operations.
• Identify opportunities and pilot proofs-of-concept with potential clients and partners.

Connaissances

Fluent English

Structured thinking

Strong execution

Entrepreneurial mindset

Autonomy

Excellent communication

Strong organisation

Curiosity for AI/fintech

Outils

APIs

Automation tools

AI applications

Description du poste

Who are we?

iBanFirst is a fast-growing European fintech that is revolutionizing international payments for SMEs. Founded in 2016, our platform empowers Small & Medium Multinationals (SMMs) to regain control over their payment operations: currency conversion (FX), international transactions, and foreign exchange risk management across 140 countries — quickly, transparently, and securely.

We make life easier for SMEs through an advanced technology platform — including automation, APIs and AI — combined with dedicated expertise, offering the best of both worlds: the agility of a SaaS solution and the reliability of a trusted partner.

By simplifying complexity, iBanFirst helps thousands of bold companies seize global business opportunities with peace of mind — delivering simplicity, transparency and security.

Key figures

• 350+ employees across 14 offices in 11 European countries
• 30+ nationalities represented, average age: 32
• 10,000 corporate clients trust us
• €80M in revenue in 2025, with a target of around €100M in 2026
• Profitable for nearly two years
• Ranked for 7 consecutive years in the Financial Times FT1000, among the fastest-growing European companies
• An NPS of 87.5, reflecting enthusiastic client feedback on the simplicity, speed and quality of our service

A strong culture built around 4 core values

• Team First: We prioritise cooperation, transparency and knowledge sharing. Success is a team effort.
• Tenacity: We are transforming a challenging and highly regulated market. This requires endurance, fast learning and resilience.
• Transformation: We innovate with intent, with every technical, product or organisational improvement designed to create real impact.
• Trust: We encourage ownership, autonomy, transparency, rigour and reliability in everything we do.

About The Opportunity

We are launching a new entrepreneurial initiative at the intersection of finance, technology and artificial intelligence.

The initiative is supported by iBanFirst and its Founder & CEO, but is designed to operate with the speed, autonomy and ambition of a new venture. The objective is to explore and build a new business opportunity from the ground up, starting with a clear market need and the support of an established and profitable company.

We are looking for a Founder's Associate to work closely with the Founder & CEO and help turn the initial vision into a structured, actionable and scalable business.

This is not a traditional Chief of Staff role focused solely on coordination. You will contribute to strategy, market exploration, business development, project execution and the practical work required to turn an idea into a functioning business.

The role is ideally based in London, with Paris or Brussels also considered.

Your role

Working directly with the Founder & CEO, you will act as a strategic and operational partner during the early stages of the venture.

You will help structure the opportunity, test assumptions, coordinate stakeholders and move key initiatives forward. You will be expected to operate with a high degree of autonomy, while knowing when to seek guidance and involve the right people.

Strategy & Business Building

• Support the Founder & CEO in refining the venture’s vision, positioning and strategic priorities
• Conduct market research, competitor analysis and customer discovery
• Help assess market opportunities, customer needs and potential business models
• Translate strategic ideas into clear action plans, priorities and milestones
• Prepare business cases, financial analyses, presentations and decision-making materials

Project Execution

• Coordinate the key workstreams required to move the venture from concept to execution
• Follow up on priorities, decisions and deliverables across internal and external stakeholders
• Build simple but effective operating processes, reporting routines and project management tools
• Identify obstacles early and help find practical solutions
• Ensure that agreed actions move forward at the right pace

Business Development & Early Operations

• Support the identification and qualification of potential use cases, partners and early opportunities
• Prepare meetings and materials for conversations with prospective clients and partners
• Help structure initial offers, pilots or proof-of-concept projects
• Contribute to the design of the venture’s operating model, processes and tools
• Support the Founder & CEO in testing, learning and iterating quickly

AI & Technology

• Develop a strong understanding of the role of AI in finance and business operations
• Monitor relevant AI tools, trends and use cases
• Identify opportunities to improve efficiency, automate tasks and support better decision-making
• Contribute to the practical testing and implementation of AI-enabled workflows

What You Will Learn And Build

During your first year, you will have the opportunity to:

• Work directly with the Founder & CEO on the creation of a new business
• Gain exposure to strategy, business development, finance, technology and operations
• Learn how to assess a market opportunity and turn it into an executable plan
• Participate in early client, partner and internal conversations
• Build the foundations of a new venture, rather than joining an already-established organisation
• Develop a broad entrepreneurial skill set with significant visibility and responsibility

What do you bring?

Experience

• 2 to 4 years of professional experience in one or more of the following environments:
• Strategy or management consulting
• Investment banking, private equity or venture capital
• Start-up or scale-up operations
• Chief of Staff or strategic project roles
• Product, business operations or digital transformation
• Fintech, SaaS or technology
• Experience working on ambiguous, analytical or cross-functional projects
• A strong interest in entrepreneurship, business building and emerging technologies

Must-have Skills

• Fluent English — both written and spoken
• Structured and analytical thinking — you can break down complex problems and turn them into clear recommendations
• Strong execution skills — you are comfortable moving from an idea to a concrete plan and following through
• Entrepreneurial mindset — you are energised by ambiguity, experimentation and building from scratch
• High level of autonomy — you take ownership and do not need a fully defined framework to make progress
• Excellent communication skills — you can write clearly, prepare compelling materials and interact confidently with senior stakeholders
• Strong organisational skills — you can manage several priorities while maintaining a high level of attention to detail
• Genuine curiosity for AI, technology and the future of finance

Nice to have

• Fluent French or a strong French-speaking background
• Experience in a start-up, scale-up or entrepreneurial environment
• Previous experience working directly with a founder, CEO or senior executive
• Exposure to finance teams, CFO topics or financial transformation
• Experience in fintech, B2B SaaS, AI, automation or systems integration
• Experience with market research, business modelling or customer discovery
• Technical fluency or familiarity with APIs, automation tools or AI applications
• Experience in an international environment

What do we offer?

• The opportunity to work directly with the Founder & CEO of iBanFirst
• A rare opportunity to help build a new business from its earliest stages
• Significant exposure to strategy, entrepreneurship, technology and finance
• High autonomy and direct impact on the direction of the initiative
• The resources, credibility and support of an established and profitable European fintech
• An international environment with teams across Europe
• A role ideally based in London, with the possibility of being based in Paris or Brussels
• A country-specific benefits package, which may include:
• Health insurance
• Pension or retirement plan
• Meal or lunch benefits
• Commuter or transport support, where applicable
• Gym or wellbeing benefits
• Paid annual leave
• Paid parental leave
• Company events and social activities

Recruitment Process

• Screening call with Talent Acquisition
• 30 minutes — remote
• Purpose: General fit, motivation, availability and first-level assessment.
• Interview with Pierre-Antoine Dusoulier — Founder & CEO
• Remote
• Purpose: Entrepreneurial mindset, analytical ability, motivation and personal fit.
• Case study or business exercise
• Format to be confirmed
• Purpose: Structured thinking, problem-solving, communication and ability to turn an idea into an actionable plan.
• Final discussion with Pierre-Antoine and selected stakeholders
• Format to be confirmed
• Purpose: Alignment on the initiative, working model, expectations and long-term potential.

We aim to move fast and will provide more details about each step during the process.