Founder's Associate

SmartSolar; Manila; On-site; PHP 420,000 - 620,000; Full time

Job summary

SmartSolar seeks a Founder's Associate to lead the Philippines market entry. You will be employee #1 in country, taking full ownership to find first customers and deliver solar systems. Responsibilities include setting up the company, building local partnerships, generating leads, and turning opportunities into real projects.

You will work closely with the founder and CEO to rapidly grow presence in a fast-paced, impact-driven environment.

Qualifications

• 1–3 years of experience in a relevant role, startup or demanding corporate environment.
• University degree from a top school in the Philippines, business or engineering major welcomed.
• Strong sales drive and customer-focused mindset required.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end process from setting up the company to securing first customers.
• Identify opportunities, negotiate partnerships with local installers and suppliers.
• Generate leads, speak with customers, and convert opportunities into real projects.

Skills

Sales drive

Customer-first mindset

Hustle and resilience

Education

University degree (Philippines) in business or engineering

Job description

Founder's Associate - Philippines Market Entry

The Role

As our Founder’s Associate in the Philippines, you’ll be our employee #1 there. You will take full ownership for finding our first customers and make sure we can deliver a solar system for them. That means taking care end-to-end, from setting up the company, understanding the electricity market to making partnerships with local installers and suppliers. This role involves identifying opportunities, negotiating partnerships, generating leads, speaking with customers and helping turn opportunities into real projects that we build. This is a highly hands-on role where you’ll take full ownership and can drive results. You will work closely with our founder and CEO, Kevin (ex-McKinsey) and our CFO Dominik, who previously worked for BlackRock.

You’ll play a key role in helping businesses in the Philippines save money with solar and build up a company from the ground up. This is a unique and fast-paced role for someone who is looking to challenge themselves and grow quickly. We are an ambitious company and are looking for hard-working dedicated people who want to have real impact together with an excellent team.

What we look for in you:

• Sales drive - you’re energized by talking to people, handling objections, and winning them over
• Customer-first mindset - you’re confident speaking with business owners, decision-makers, households, and you know how to build trust quickly
• Hustle and resilience - you thrive in a fast-paced build-test-learn-iterate environment
• 1-3 years of experience in a relevant role, ideally in a startup or a highly demanding corporate environment
• University degree from a top school in the Philippines, any business or engineering major is welcome