Operations Associate

Zenos; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Zenos in San Francisco is looking for an Operations Associate to work directly with the CEO across critical company tasks. This position involves supporting office buildouts, driving customer development, and helping establish operational processes. Ideal candidates should have 1-5 years of experience at a top-tier company and possess strong communication skills and problem-solving capabilities.

As part of a high-growth startup, you will have significant ownership from day one with clear paths to leadership as the company expands.

Qualifications

• 1-5 years of experience at a top-tier company (startup, tech, consulting, etc.).
• Strong communicator and clear thinker.
• Comfortable with ambiguity and ownership.

Responsibilities

• Support office buildouts and customer development.
• Help build operational processes and systems.
• Drive strategic and hands-on execution across various tasks.

Skills

Experience at top-tier company

Communication skills

Problem-solving

Systems thinking

Adaptability

Job description

Zenos is building a new class of hardware-light AI robotics systems designed for real-world deployment. We’re early, fast-moving, and well-capitalized. Our founders are successful entrepreneurs with a nine figure exit in the AI space. Our CEO has been a public company executive at a company whose products you use often.

We’re hiring an Operations Associate to work directly with the CEO on whatever matters most — from fundraising and sales to operations, hiring, and getting robots into the field.

This role is for someone who wants to be in the middle of everything.

The Role

You’ll operate as a generalist across the company, helping push forward our highest-priority work. You’ll be supporting office buildouts, driving early customer development, and helping build the operational backbone of the company. You will be solving the problems that don’t have a natural home in engineering or sales and building the ‘V1’ of our internal departments by setting up our early-stage processes and systems, ensuring they are scalable as we grow.

You’ll move between strategic work (market analysis, materials, planning) and hands-on execution (coordinating logistics, supporting field tests, making things happen in the real world). One day might involve refining a pitch or analyzing a market; the next might involve setting up a test site or solving a scrappy operational problem.

If something is blocking the company, you’ll help unblock it.

Who You Are

• 1-5 years of experience at a top-tier company (startup, tech, consulting, etc.)
• Scrappy, focused on getting stuff done
• Comfortable with ambiguity and ownership
• Strong communicator and clear thinker
• Willing to do both data-driven high-level thinking and low-level execution
• Systems thinker who can create solutions to get to the next stage

You don’t need robotics experience — but you should be excited to work in the real world, not just behind a screen.

Why This Role

• Work directly with the CEO on the company’s most important problems
• Get broad exposure across fundraising, sales, engineering, and hiring
• Define the operations of a high-growth startup
• High ownership from day one
• Clear path to leadership roles as the company grows