Founder's Associate / Chief of Staff

EQL Tech; Cardiff; Hybrid; GBP 45,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

A pioneering tech company in Cardiff is seeking a Founder’s Associate / Chief of Staff to work directly with the Founder & CEO across various ventures. The role demands a candidate who thrives in fast-paced environments and seeks a quick path to leadership. Responsibilities include strategic execution, client engagement, and brand management. Candidates should possess strong writing and communication skills, and be ambitious and detail-oriented. This position offers growth opportunities and mentorship within innovative sectors like AI and education.

Benefits

Competitive salary

Additional performance-based pay

Pension contributions

Employer-covered equipment

Technology budget

Qualifications

• Ambitious, curious, optimistic and grounded.
• Operate with founder-level ownership, pace and resilience.
• Demonstrated excellence academically and/or professionally.
• Comfortable with senior stakeholders as well as frontline staff.
• Excited by AI, automation, talent development and modern education.

Responsibilities

• Drive execution on cross-company initiatives.
• Help manage high-value relationships.
• Draft proposals, memos, and materials.
• Coordinate presence at key conferences.
• Support invoicing and payroll coordination.

Skills

Strong writing skills

Strong communication skills

Organizational skills

Attention to detail

Multitasking

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.

Responsibilities

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

• 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
• Thrives in environments with high autonomy and high expectations

How to apply

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

Benefits

1. 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

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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