The Mission: Autonomous Operations for Manufacturing SMBs
Manufacturing SMBs are currently drowning in complexity. Every day, critical data is lost in a flood of emails, phone calls, and manual spreadsheets that try to bridge the gap between accounting, supply chain, and production.
Sophia builds the platform that ends this chaos. We don't just digitize processes; we automate them, driving immediate improvements in revenue and efficiency.
Why does this role exist?
A founder's time is the single most expensive resource at a seed-stage company. As Founders Associate, you take on everything that doesn't strictly require the founder — from running the customer onboarding playbook to closing the next deal, from hiring the next engineer to keeping the cap table clean. You bring structure to chaos and turn decisions into execution.
The destination is clear: a company that runs at the speed of the founder — without depending on the founder.
Your Role: Force Multiplier
You will be the Founder's right hand. Half operator, half closer, fully owner. Expect to switch from a customer call at 9am, to a hiring loop at 11am, to drafting an investor update by lunch — and to ship all three.
Customer Operations & GTM
Run pilot deployments end-to-end. Sit on the shop floor with customers. Build the onboarding playbook. Source leads, draft outreach, qualify pipeline, and close the next five logos.
Internal Ops & Finance
Own the unsexy but critical work: hiring funnels, vendor contracts, accounting handoffs, KPIs, board materials, and cap-table hygiene. If a process is missing, you build it — lightweight, in writing, in our tools.
Special Projects & Strategy
Whatever moves the needle this week: deep-dive market research, partnership negotiations, fundraising materials, a pricing model, or a new product wedge. You scope, ship, and present.
Ownership
No "I sent the email." Did the customer reply? Was the deal won? Was the hire made? You drive things over the finish line and report outcomes, not activity.
Your Toolkit
We are an AI-native team. We expect you to multiply your output with software — starting with our own.
Dogfooded — Operations, Finance & GTM
Sophia
Operations
Notion, Linear, Slack
GTM
HubSpot, Apollo, LinkedIn
Finance & Hiring
DATEV, Personio, Ashby
AI Leverage
Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor
Who You Are
We don't care about your title history. We care about what you've owned end-to-end.
Generalist Operator
You can run a customer call, a hiring loop, and a P&L review in the same day — and do all three well. You bring structure where there is none.
Bias to Action
You don't wait for a brief. You scope the problem, draft a solution, and ship it. Done is better than perfect — and you know which is which.
2-5 Years In, or a Cracked New Grad
Ex-consulting, ex-banking, ex-startup, or a fresh graduate with a track record of running things. If you've already started a company — even better.
Sharp Communicator
You write clearly under time pressure. You can pitch a CFO in the morning and joke with a shop-floor foreman in the afternoon. Fluent German & English.
Freiburg & at Customer On-Site
We work in tight loops. Being in the room together — with the team and with the customer — matters at this stage.
Why Sophia?
Founder Apprenticeship
A front-row seat to building a category-defining AI company. The fastest path to becoming a founder yourself.
Real Equity
Meaningful ownership in a VC-backed, high-growth AI startup — not a token grant.
Real Scope
From day one, you own functions, not tasks. As we scale, you grow into the right leadership seat — Ops, GTM, or Chief of Staff.
European Backbone
Help the European manufacturing sector stay competitive globally. The work matters beyond the cap table.
About the Founder
I have spent the last 12 years operating at the intersection of manufacturing and technology. My path hasn't been linear — it ranges from co-founding Knusperreich (a pioneer in D2C food) to running a traditional family-owned precision casting firm serving the aerospace and medical sectors.
That deep dive into the 'Mittelstand' revealed massive friction in industrial procurement, inspiring me to launch KREATIZE. There, we helped machinery companies automate sourcing, backed by €20m in funding from Tier-1 VCs like Atlantic and Earlybird.
While I navigated the startup rollercoaster over the last decade, I often felt I was too early or too young to fully capitalize on major tech waves. With AI, that changes. I am convinced the next generation of value belongs to the application layer — solving unsexy, complex problems for real industries. That is the mission behind Sophia.
Operating Principles
Sequence Matters: We will not scale the organization until we have undeniable Product-Market Fit. We solve the pain point first; we scale second.
Talent Density: We hire fewer people, but better people. A small team of A-players outperforms a large army of average performers.
Speed is the Moat: We operate with extreme urgency to iterate, learn, and ship faster than the incumbents.
Builders Only: Everyone contributes directly to product or revenue. We avoid pure "management" layers entirely in the early stage.
Brand as Leverage: We invest in brand early to lower CAC and attract top talent, treating it as a compounding asset.
The Interview Process
We move fast. Everywhere. We want to go from first chat to offer in 5 days.
The Vibe Check (30 min)
Chat with Simon about the vision, your background, and what you want to learn.
Case & Background Deep Dive (60 min)
We walk through a real operational or GTM problem we are facing today and see how you structure and attack it.
Trial Project (48 hrs, async)
A short, paid take-home: build an outbound campaign, a hiring funnel, or a customer onboarding playbook — whichever fits the moment. We grade clarity, judgment, and shipping.
Onsite Co-Work
Spend half a day with us in Freiburg. We work on a real workstream together and meet the team.
Other Open Roles
We're hiring
Founding Engineer
Backend + AI-Focused Full-Stack Developer.
We would love to hear from you!
Just send us an email with your details — and one thing you've owned end-to-end that you're proud of.
hello@gosophia.ai