Founder's Associate

Zealot; Greater London; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Zealot, a London-based firm building AI systems for national security customers, seeks anOperations/Head of UK Office to collaborate with the founders and establish the London operation. You’ll turn loosely defined priorities into concrete plans, coordinate cross-functionally, and drive projects from idea to completion.

You’ll manage workspace setup, supplier relations, onboarding, and strategic initiatives, with increasing scope as the company grows.

Qualifications

• Experience in operations, founder’s office, chief of staff, or similarly demanding role.
• Proven track record turning ambiguous ideas into results.
• Strong analytical thinking and clear, concise writing.
• Excellent judgement, discretion and attention to detail.
• Self-starter with initiative and ability to handle practical details.

Responsibilities

• Own priority projects for the founders: define the problem, assess options, recommend a course of action, and deliver it.
• Help establish our UK operations, including workspace, suppliers, local advisers, and processes.
• Research new initiatives and turn findings into concise, actionable recommendations.
• Support hiring, onboarding, and customer visits so the technical team can focus on its work.
• Coordinate across teams and external partners, keeping decisions, responsibilities, and deadlines clear.
• Identify recurring problems and build simple systems to solve them.

Skills

Operations

Founder’s office experience

Ambiguity handling

Analytical thinking

Written communication

Project management

Initiative

Tools

Google Workspace

Slack

Job description

Zealot (zealotlabs.com) builds AI systems that find zero-days, emulate target devices, and develop working exploits for U.S. defense and intelligence customers. We are backed by tier-1 U.S. venture firms and industry leaders, with a team that includes alumni of Anthropic, xAI, NSA, USCYBERCOM and Anduril.

The role

Work directly with Zealot’s founders to build our UK presence and execute the projects that matter most to the business.

This is a broad, hands-on role for someone who wants to understand how a company is built by taking responsibility for making it happen. You’ll turn loosely defined priorities into clear plans, make sound decisions with incomplete information, and carry projects through to completion.

Your work will range from researching a business decision to getting the practical foundations of our London operation in place. As the company grows, the scope will grow with it.

What you’ll do

• Own priority projects for the founders: define the problem, assess options, recommend a course of action, and deliver it.
• Help establish our UK operations, including workspace, suppliers, local advisers, and processes.
• Research new initiatives and turn findings into concise, actionable recommendations.
• Support hiring, onboarding, and customer visits so our technical team can focus on its work.
• Coordinate across teams and external partners, keeping decisions, responsibilities, and deadlines clear.
• Identify recurring problems and build simple systems to solve them.

What we’re looking for

• Experience in operations, a founder’s office, chief of staff, or a similarly demanding role, ideally at a startup or technology company.
• Evidence that you’ve personally taken an ambiguous project from initial idea to a meaningful result.
• Strong analytical thinking and clear, concise writing.
• Excellent judgement, discretion, and attention to detail.
• Initiative, resourcefulness, and the willingness to handle practical details yourself.
• Availability to work full-time on site in London, with flexibility to travel.

You may have had one or two substantive roles since university. The scope of your work and what you’ve achieved matter more than your previous title.

Useful experience

Launching an office or regional operation; working closely with founders; or operating in defence, cybersecurity, government, or another regulated environment.

Direct access to the founders, meaningful responsibility from the outset, and the opportunity to help build a company working on difficult technical problems with real national-security relevance.