MFK Recruitment
Founders Associate
Get notified of more jobs like this · No spam, ever
How your CV stacks up
Upload your CV to see how well it fits this job role
?%
Founders Associate
Salary: Up to £65,000 plus share options and benefits
Location: Brentford, West London, although it may relocate to another West London location such as Ealing, Chiswick, or Hammersmith.
Working arrangement: Predominantly office-based, with some flexibility and travel to customer sites, field trials, and events
Employment: Permanent, full-time
MFK Recruitment is recruiting a Founder’s Associate for an innovative UK technology company developing advanced Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning solutions for defence, security, and other demanding operational environments.
Our client has a highly experienced team of Software Engineers, Data Scientists, Machine Learning specialists, and Researchers. The company is growing rapidly and is now looking for a highly capable individual to work closely with the CEO and senior management team. MFK Recruitment has successfully recruited four Engineers to this company over the past five years, and all four are still with the business.
The Role
The Founder’s Associate will work directly with the CEO across a wide range of operational, commercial, and strategic activities.
This is an unusually varied and hands-on position. One day could involve research, analysis, or supporting an important business decision, while another could involve organizing a field trial, managing suppliers, or helping prepare and load technical equipment.
The successful candidate will be highly intelligent, extremely organized, commercially minded, and very good at getting things done. They must have a low-ego approach and be willing to take responsibility for whatever is required to help the business succeed.
Responsibilities
As the Founder’s Associate, you will:
- Work closely with the CEO to support the effective running and continued growth of the company.
- Develop, implement, and maintain policies, procedures, and processes across the business.
- Improve existing processes and internal ways of working.
- Ensure operational activities are delivered on time and within budget.
- Support the day-to-day management and development of the team.
- Assist with non-specialist HR matters and recruitment planning.
- Ensure business activities remain compliant with relevant requirements.
- Manage purchasing, suppliers, and technology procurement.
- Support budgeting, cost control, and wider commercial decision-making.
- Manage the office, facilities, and day-to-day operational requirements.
- Organize internal and external meetings, conferences, exhibitions, and events.
- Coordinate the attendance of the senior management team at conferences and exhibitions.
- Manage processes for obtaining accreditations, approvals, and clearances.
- Engage with regulators such as the CAA and Ofcom in support of field trials.
- Organize technical field trials and product demonstrations, including attendees, equipment, and logistics.
- Carry out research and analysis to support business decisions.
- Lead special projects from initial planning through to delivery.
- Support change and operational improvement initiatives.
- Build strong relationships with customers, suppliers, and other key stakeholders.
Reasons to use Rodeo
Start with a chat, not a search bar
Grad scheme, placement, apprenticeship? Not sure what you want yet — that's fine. Your agent talks it through with you and turns "I have no idea" into a shortlist.
It searches the market for you
Every day your agent scans the market matching roles against what actually matters to you, not just keywords on a CV.
Only hits
No noise. No "maybe this fits." Just roles with a clear explanation of why they're right — and where to focus when applying.
Essential Experience
The successful Founder’s Associate will need:
- A strong educational background in a STEM subject such as Computer Science, engineering, mathematics, physics, or a related discipline.
- Experience working within a technology, engineering, scientific, research, or similarly technical environment.
- The ability to understand complex technical concepts and become comfortable discussing them with technical teams and customers.
- Strong organizational skills and the ability to manage several priorities at once.
- Experience delivering projects or operational improvements.
- Strong commercial awareness and financial literacy.
- Excellent research, analytical, and problem-solving skills.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills.
- The confidence to work closely with senior leaders, technical specialists, customers, and external stakeholders.
- A proactive, practical, and low-ego approach.
- The ability to work effectively in a fast-moving environment where priorities can change quickly.
- A genuine interest in Artificial Intelligence, technology, and its applications within defence.
- High levels of integrity, reliability, and attention to detail.
- Existing UK security clearance or the ability to obtain the required clearance.
Get help with your application
Your very own career expert that helps elevate your application to the next level.
Technical Environment
Candidates are not expected to already have detailed knowledge of the company’s technology. However, they must demonstrate the ability and willingness to quickly understand technical concepts such as:
- EO, IR, SAR, and RF sensors.
- The electromagnetic spectrum.
- Mathematical models.
- Edge deployment.
- Machine Learning training data.
- Synthetic data and simulation.
Once up to speed, the Founder’s Associate will need to feel comfortable discussing these areas with customers and supporting technical activity in the field.
Desirable Experience
The following would be beneficial:
- Experience within defence, military, government, aerospace, security, or another regulated sector.
- Experience working in an ambitious startup or scale-up environment.
- Technology procurement experience.
- Experience supporting technical demonstrations, field trials, or deployments.
- Experience working with regulators or supporting accreditation and compliance processes.
- Previous experience working directly with a founder, CEO, or senior management team.
Security Clearance
Candidates must be eligible to obtain UK BPSS and Security Check clearance. Existing security clearance would be highly advantageous.
Applicants for SC clearance are normally expected to have lived in the UK for the previous five years. Applicants with a shorter UK residency history may still be considered, subject to the sponsoring authority being able to complete the required checks.
“It took my CV and asked me questions relevant to understanding what kind of jobs to suggest for me. Suggestions were almost perfect. Jobs were exactly what I’ve been looking for.”
Jessica, London
Skills
Location