Founder Operations Lead & Strategy Partner (Remote)

Somewhere; Johannesburg; Remote; ZAR 277,000 - 554,000; Part time

Job summary

Somewhere is seeking a Founder's Generalist Operator to support the Founder & CEO across operations, administration, recruiting, and key business priorities. The role combines elements of an Executive Assistant, an Operations Associate, and a junior Chief of Staff in a fast-moving startup.

You will learn the business, own projects, coordinate contractors and candidates, build scalable processes, manage payments, and drive initiatives with minimal supervision.

Qualifications

• They should have: Exceptional critical-thinking and problem-solving ability.
• High cognitive horsepower and strong business judgement.
• A strong bias toward action and execution.
• The ability to operate effectively in ambiguity.
• Excellent prioritization skills.
• A proactive rather than reactive working style.
• Strong ownership and accountability.
• The confidence to identify problems and propose solutions independently.
• Excellent organizational and follow-through skills.
• Strong written and verbal English communication.
• The maturity to work directly with a founder in a fast-moving startup.
• An interest in learning across multiple functions rather than remaining within a narrow job description.
• A long-term mindset and desire to grow alongside the company.

Responsibilities

• Act as trusted extension to the Founder/CEO and align priorities.
• Identify bottlenecks and own initiatives without constant oversight.
• Translate high-level ideas into actionable plans and execute.
• Manage concurrent strategic initiatives to minimize context-switching.
• Document core processes to scale daily workflows.
• Support recruiting and contractor coordination.
• Oversee payments and basic finance tasks.

Skills

Critical thinking

Problem solving

Business judgment

Action oriented

Ambiguity tolerance

Prioritization

Proactive mindset

Ownership

Independent problem solving

English communication

Startup experience

Learning mindset

Job description

Somewhere is seeking a Founder's Generalist Operator to support the Founder & CEO across operations, administration, recruiting, and key business priorities. The role combines elements of an Executive Assistant, an Operations Associate, and a junior Chief of Staff in a fast-moving startup.

You will learn the business, own projects, coordinate contractors and candidates, build scalable processes, manage payments, and drive initiatives with minimal supervision.