Founders Associate

WHO WE ARE Aurelius is the autonomous directed energy company. We are a group of engineers, operators, and company patriots building American-made, laser-based counter-UAS systems that neutralize aerial threats. Archimedes, our autonomous laser turret, combines a high-power laser with radar and machine vision to find, track, and defeat small drones. We design in San Francisco, manufacture in Detroit, and test onsite, on our own cUAS range. ABOUT THE TEAM You'll report directly to our CEO while also supporting our CTO and the broader company. Calendar, inbox, meetings, travel, follow-ups, special projects, and whatever the company needs moved today is where you will operate most. There's no defined lane and no playbook. It's a high energy, high throughput role, the bar is attention to detail. We build hardware. Some days you'll be moving equipment, setting up at the shop, or helping run a test day or an event. We care far more about what you've started, shipped, and run than about years of experience or past titles. MUST-HAVES - Built your own tools to go faster: spreadsheets with real formulas, SQL, scripts, Zapier-type automations, or AI workflows - Owned work where mistakes were visible and kept the error rate at zero: models, trackers, client deliverables, production releases - Executed inside a fast-growing, venture-backed startup, professional sport, military environment or another chaotic environment, and shipped real work instead of shadowing it - This role includes regular physical work. You must be able to regularly lift 50 lbs WHAT YOU'LL OWN - Founder's calendar, end to end: every meeting confirmed, every time zone right, every conflict caught before anyone sees it - Inbox triage and follow-ups: action items from every meeting captured and closed the same day - Travel and logistics for field tests, demos, and trips: flights, hotels, ground transport, gear lists, and the backup plan when the schedule moves - Special projects end to end: CEO hands you a messy problem, and you hand back a finished thing, not a status update - Ops tracking with zero errors: vendors, purchasing, SaaS subscriptions and renewals, and the spreadsheets the company runs on - Internal tools and automations: if you do something twice, you build a spreadsheet, script, or AI workflow so nobody does it by hand a third time - Visitor and site visit coordination, including NDAs and scheduling - Physical work: moving hardware and equipment, and helping at the shop, test sites, and events. When something needs to be carried, you're already carrying it NICE TO HAVES - A business you started that made real money - Comfort with SQL or a scripting language - A tool or automation you built that other people actually used - Experience in a hardware, manufacturing, or defense environment - Experience running logistics for events, trips, or field work NOT A FIT IF - You want a traditional EA or admin role with a defined lane - You need a slow, predictable pace - Typos and loose ends don't bother you - You won't lift, haul, or get your hands dirty - You want strategy work without the execution - You can't be onsite 5 days a week HOW YOU OPERATE - Extreme bias for action. You'd rather solve it now than schedule a meeting about it. - You handle problems before they hit anyone's inbox. - Comfortable with ambiguity and fast iteration in a startup environment. - Clear communicator across the team, leadership, and vendors. - Self-directed. You identify what needs to happen next and do it without being told. HOW WE WORK At Aurelius we work what we call, 5+X. Our core operating hours are 5 days a week, Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm Pacific Time. The X is the honest acknowledgment that hard work sometimes takes more. That can be late nights and weekends during sprints and ramp-up periods or conferences, deployments, and events when the mission calls for it. This role is onsite 5 days a week in San Francisco. BENEFITS At Aurelius Systems, we invest in our people. Our comprehensive, competitive benefits package is available at little to no cost to employees and supports health, recovery, and whatever comes next. Explore Our Benefits https://www.aureliussystems.com/careers#:~:text=Explore%20Our%20Benefits. EXPORT CONTROL NOTICE This role requires access to export-controlled information or items and requires U.S. citizenship. NOT A PERFECT FIT? Email our Head of Talent, alfredo@aureliussystems.us with your the most extraordinary thing you've built or done.