Founder Associate

Location: Chicago, IL HeadquartersType: Full-time, in officeCompany Stage: Early-stage / venture-backed startupWe're a small, fast-moving team building something new. As our Founder Associate, you'll work side by side with our CEO every day: running their calendar and travel, shaping their personal brand, organizing high-profile dinners and meetings, and building AI agents that make them faster. It's a seat most people don't get this early in their career, with direct access to how a venture-backed tech company is built, funded and run. Early-stage startup life means shifting priorities, lean resources and high expectations, and that should energize you rather than slow you down. If you want to learn faster than you would almost anywhere else, keep reading.About Us - Our Mission & VisionAt Autopilot, our mission is to free people up to do what they do best by automating everything else. We are building the infrastructure layer that powers autonomy in motion across the physical world, including sports, fitness, logistics, healthcare and more. Our systems help robots move, record, deliver, train and connect in real-world environments that have historically lacked modern tooling. Our values are simple and non-negotiable: Do Good. Have Fun. Make Money. We believe these are mutually reinforcing, and we work hard to uphold them as we grow.We move fast, operate scrappy, and care deeply about building something that works.BenefitsYou will be eligible to participate in company benefits and perks, which currently include:Base Salary: The base salary range for this role is $85,000-$120,000, depending on experience. Experienced candidates may also be eligible for a performance bonus.100% Employer-covered Health, Dental, and Vision Insurance401(k) - Company-administered planFlexible PTO - Time off as needed, coordinated with your team18 Paid HolidaysTravel Reimbursement - Reimbursed in accordance with company policy, where role-related travel is requiredTeam & Culture Events - Team offsites, social events, and company-sponsored activitiesBenefits and policies may be updated from time to time at the company's discretion.The RoleWe're looking for a Founder Associate who acts as the CEO's right hand and helps them show up at their best, inside the company and out. You'll run the CEO's calendar, inbox and travel, manage their personal content calendar, look for ways to grow their visibility, and organize the dinners and meetings where relationships with customers, partners and investors get built. You'll also build AI agents and automations that take repetitive work off the CEO's plate. You'll be trusted with sensitive information, including fundraising, board matters and people decisions, and you'll treat it with complete discretion.This role is a great fit if you come from sales, marketing or content creation at a startup, or if you're ready to move into tech and want a front-row seat to how a venture-backed company operates.A Day in the LifeYour morning starts before the CEO's does. You send a short brief covering the day's meetings, who they're meeting and why it matters, and anything that changed overnight. You've already moved a conflict, confirmed a car to the airport and flagged two emails that need the CEO's answer.Mid-morning, the two of you spend 15 minutes on the content calendar. You've drafted a LinkedIn post from last week's customer visit and pulled together a few ideas for raising the CEO's profile, like a podcast that fits our market or a panel at an upcoming robotics conference.In the afternoon, you're planning a dinner for an investor and two partners who are in town next week: the restaurant, the guest list, the briefing notes and the follow-up. In between, you're improving an AI agent you built that drafts meeting prep from the CEO's calendar and inbox, so next week's briefs take half the time.By the end of the day, action items from the CEO's meetings are captured and assigned, tomorrow is set, and nothing is waiting on the CEO that doesn't need to be. Some days that also means handling a personal errand or booking a personal trip, because work and life overlap for a founder. Every day, you're learning how a venture-backed tech company actually runs.What You'll OwnCEO Office & CalendarRun the CEO's calendar, inbox and daily priorities, and act as the first point of contact for people trying to reach themSend a daily brief and weekly preview, and keep the CEO's top priorities and key projects currentPrepare briefing materials and research for meetings, capture action items and follow up until they're closedDraft announcements, investor updates and presentations, and route documents that need the CEO's signatureOn occasion, attend meetings on the CEO's behalf and report backSubmit business expense reports and schedule CEO interviews for open roles with our Operations teamPersonal Brand & VisibilityManage the CEO's personal content calendar across LinkedIn and other channelsDraft and schedule posts and other content for the CEO's approval, and keep their voice consistentFind ways to grow the CEO's visibility, including podcasts, panels, events and press opportunitiesTravel, Events & RelationshipsCoordinate business travel and events, including multi-city trips, visas and backup plans when things changeOrganize high-profile dinners and meetings with customers, partners and investors, from invites to follow-upHost board members, investors and customers at HQ, and keep key relationships warm with thank-yous, gifts and check-insCoordinate board meetings and support investor updates, fundraising meetings and data room organizationLend a hand on in-house events when our Operations team asksAI & AutomationBuild AI agents and automations that take repetitive work off the CEO's plate, such as meeting prep, inbox triage and follow-upsSet up systems in Google Workspace, Notion and Asana that keep the CEO's work organized and visibleDocument how the CEO's office runs so it can scale as the company growsPersonal Support (a few hours a week)Manage the CEO's personal calendar, appointments, errands and personal travelKeep personal and company spending separate, with personal items on the CEO's own cardWhat Success Looks LikeThe CEO's time goes to the highest-priority work, with fewer conflicts and wasted meetingsThe CEO walks into every meeting prepared, and nothing falls through the cracks after itThe CEO's content goes out on schedule, and their visibility grows quarter over quarterHigh-profile dinners and meetings run smoothly and lead to clear next stepsThe AI agents you build save the CEO real time every weekBoard, investor and people information is handled with complete discretionWhat We're Looking ForYou're organized and on pointYou're detail-oriented and catch small mistakes before they turn into big onesYou're on time and prepared, and you keep track of every commitmentYou think a step ahead and anticipate what the CEO needs before they askYou communicate well and keep things confidentialYou write clearly and can write in someone else's voice, from a quick email to a LinkedIn postYou're comfortable with board members, investors, customers and partnersYou know when to act on your own and when to escalateYou have the CEO's best interest in mind and handle sensitive information with complete discretionYou're curious about tech and AIYou use tools like Claude, ChatGPT or similar every day and like figuring out how to make them do moreYou've built simple agents or automations, or you're excited to learn fastYou want to understand how a venture-backed tech company is built, funded and runYou thrive in a startup environmentYou stay calm when plans change at the last minuteYou enjoy working in person with a small team where priorities evolve and individual contributions matterExperience2-5 years in a fast-paced role at a startup or high-growth company, such as sales, marketing, content creation, operations or executive supportExperience creating content or managing social media, for yourself or for a brand, is a plusExperience supporting an executive, board or investors is a plusStrong with Google Workspace (Gmail, Calendar, Drive) and Slack. Familiarity with Notion and Asana is a plusRegular evening and weekend availability, mostly async or remoteInterest in robotics, automation or technologyAbility to work onsite at our Chicago headquartersApplySubmit your resume and LinkedIn profile, along with a brief note about why you want to work side by side with a startup CEO. Bonus points for a link to content you've created or something you've automated.Autopilot is an equal opportunity employer. We welcome applicants of all backgrounds. If you need an accommodation to apply, contact takeoff@operationautopilot.com.