Founder's Associate / Chief of Staff

EQL Edtech (sales & engineering talent); Cardiff; Hybrid; GBP 100,000 - 125,000; Full time

Job summary

A dynamic education technology firm is seeking a Founder's Associate/Chief of Staff to work closely with the Founder & CEO. This role promises ownership from day one and exposure to leadership across various sectors. Candidates should be ambitious, organized, and excited about AI and education. The position offers competitive compensation and a hybrid working model in Cardiff, with opportunities for mentorship and growth within the organization.

Benefits

Competitive salary

Employer-covered equipment

Professional growth budget

Flexible working hours

Work-life balance

Qualifications

• Ambitious, curious, optimistic and grounded.
• Operate with founder-level ownership and resilience.
• Demonstrated excellence academically or professionally.
• Care about impact and social mobility.
• Excited by AI, automation, talent development.

Responsibilities

• Drive execution on cross-company initiatives.
• Manage high-value relationships with clients and partners.
• Draft proposals, memos, and communication materials.
• Support invoicing, payroll coordination, vendor management.
• Assist in building systems, workflows, and SOPs.

Skills

Strong writing and communication skills

High organisation

Attention to detail

Ability to multitask

Comfortable with senior stakeholders

Job description

About The Role

We're hiring a Founder's Associate / Chief of Staff to work directly with our Founder & CEO and their teams across multiple ventures operating across education, recruiting, AI, talent development and workforce innovation. These include Equal Teaching, EQL Edtech and Equal Education Partners.

This is a role for someone who thrives in fast-moving environments, thinks like a founder, and wants an accelerated path to leadership or future entrepreneurship. You'll contribute across strategy, operations, systems, relationships, content, and execution - from day one.

Strategic & Operational Execution

• Drive execution on cross-company initiatives
• Build systems, workflows, SOPs and automations
• Identify patterns, bottlenecks and opportunities to improve operations

Client, Partner & Investor Engagement

• Help to manage high-value relationships
• Draft proposals, memos, contracts, decks and materials
• Support global client and partner communication

Brand, Content & Communication

• Manage and triage high volumes of correspondence
• Draft and refine content for LinkedIn, newsletters and events
• Build websites, pages and MVPs using AI & no-code tools (working with Marketing colleagues)
• Maintain brand consistency across multiple ventures (working with Marketing colleagues)

Events & External Representation

• Coordinate presence at key conferences (BETT, SXSW, ASU+GSV, etc.)
• Prepare materials, logistics and communications
• Represent the Founder & CEO, the MD and the company in meetings

Business Operations

• Support invoicing, payroll coordination, vendor management
• Help run efficient operations across systems and teams
• Improve and implement SOPs across the organisation

Founder Enablement

• Prioritise, triage and manage workflow
• Operate across WhatsApp, Slack, email, Asana, voice notes etc. with ease
• Remove blockers and help keep the Founder & CEO and MD focused on what matters most

Why this role is different

• Work directly with the Founder across multiple ventures
• High ownership from day one
• Accelerated exposure to leadership, strategy & global networks
• Learn how to build AI-enabled organisations
• Craft a career path toward future founder, chief of staff or senior operator roles
• Gain active mentorship & guidance from experienced colleagues and build an enviable network across regions and sectors
• Operate across the UK, US and Europe

Requirements

The successful applicant will be:

• Ambitious, curious, optimistic and grounded
• Operate with founder-level ownership, pace and resilience
• Have demonstrated excellence academically and/or professionally
• Strong writing and communication skills
• High organisation, attention to detail and ability to multitask
• Care deeply about impact, social mobility and the future of work
• Comfortable with senior stakeholders as well as frontline staff
• Enjoy building: systems, relationships, processes, prototypes
• Excited by AI, automation, talent development and modern education
• Thrive in environments with high autonomy and high expectations

How To Apply

Submit the following:

• CV or LinkedIn
• 3-5 sentences on why this role
• Examples of writing, projects, or automations
• (Optional) 90-second Loom intro

Benefits

• Core Compensation & Support
• Competitive salary (benchmarking against founder's office / CoS roles depending on experience & location)
• Additional performance based pay
• Pension / 401(k) contributions (depending on jurisdiction)
• Employer-covered equipment (laptop, accessories, workspace setup)
• Phone allowance / mobile reimbursement
• Technology + AI tools budget
• Professional Growth & Career Acceleration
• Direct mentorship from the Founder/CEO
• Exposure to leadership across multiple ventures (education, AI, talent, workforce)
• Dedicated annual learning & development budget (books, courses, conferences)
• Attendance at major global events
• Opportunity to sit in on strategic calls with investors, founders, government leaders
• Clear career progression path (FA/Chief of Staff → Director/Head of a team → future founder)
• Opportunities to lead cross-company special projects
• Access to advisory boards, investor networks, and partner organisations
• Work-Life Flexibility & Autonomy
• Hybrid / flexible working in Cardiff (Wales), London or Austin
• Flexible hours focused on high performance, not time logged
• Ability to travel for events, client visits, and international expansion
• High-trust environment with autonomy from day one
• Perks, Culture & Mission-Aligned Extras
• Work directly at the centre of impactful ventures in education, AI, talent & social mobility
• Small, high-trust, low-politics environment
• Opportunity to shape systems, processes and culture across multiple teams
• Access to co-working spaces or our own offices (Austin, London, Cardiff, etc.)
• Opportunities to collaborate with world-class operators, educators, founders and policymakers
• A role where your work rapidly becomes visible and meaningful
• Long-Term Alignment
• Structured pathway to progression for the right candidate
• Opportunity to take ownership of strategic units or spin-out initiatives
• Become part of the Founder's trusted team working across multiple ventures
• Long-term support in your own founder journey if you choose to build something