Why This Job is Featured on The SaaS Jobs
This Founders Associate role stands out in the SaaS ecosystem because it sits at the intersection of product, operations, and go-to-market in an AI-led company building a new interface layer for human computer interaction. In early-stage SaaS and platform businesses, that combination often determines whether a technically ambitious product becomes an adoptable, repeatable commercial offering, and the remit here is explicitly tied to how core decisions get made.
For a SaaS career path, the value is the breadth of exposure to the operating system of a company: how metrics are defined, how internal cadence is set, how cross-functional priorities are unblocked, and how strategic work like planning and analysis connects to execution. Those are durable skills across SaaS, particularly for roles that later move into product ops, strategy and operations, chief of staff tracks, or early-stage general management.
This position is best suited to professionals early in their career who prefer high context, frequent switching between problem types, and work that alternates between analytical depth and hands-on coordination. It will appeal to candidates who want close proximity to founder-level tradeoffs and are comfortable making progress with incomplete information.
The section above is editorial commentary from The SaaS Jobs, provided to help SaaS professionals understand the role in a broader industry context.
Job Description
About Tavus
Tavus is a research lab pioneering human computing. We’re building AI Humans — a new interface that closes the gap between people and machines. Our real-time human simulation models allow machines to see, hear, respond, and even look real, enabling natural, face-to-face conversations at scale. We are backed by leading investors including Sequoia Capital, Y Combinator, and Scale Venture Partners.
Founders Associate
We’re building one of the most ambitious companies in AI. This is not a typical Founders Associate role. It’s a high-intensity, high-exposure position working directly with the founder at the center of the company — helping drive critical decisions, execute across the business, and solve problems that don’t have clear answers. If you’re early in your career and want a front-row seat to building a category-defining company, this is one of the highest-leverage roles you can take.
The Role
You’ll operate as a true right hand to the founder — embedded in everything from day-to-day operations to the most strategic initiatives across the company. No two weeks will look the same.
• Driving key cross-functional projects (e.g. hiring strategy, data infrastructure, company metrics)
• Supporting board-level and strategic initiatives (M&A; financial analysis, planning)
• Owning internal operations (offsites, logistics, systems, cadence)
• Helping unblock teams and push forward high-priority work
• Diving into new problem spaces with little context and figuring them out quickly
This role involves constant context switching, ambiguity, and ownership.
What We’re Looking For
We care far more about how you think and operate than your exact background.
• 0–4 years of experience (or exceptional new grad)
• Backgrounds in consulting (McKinsey, Bain, BCG), banking, private equity, or high-growth
startups
• Demonstrated ability to operate in high-performance, high-expectation environments
Core traits:
• High agency — you take ownership without being asked
• Curiosity — you ask the right questions and go deep, not just execute tasks
• Polish — strong communication, attention to detail, and professional judgment
• Work ethic — you’re willing to go all-in when it matters
• Intellectual sharpness — you can quickly understand complex problems and structure solutions
What Makes This Role Unique
• You will have unusually deep access to the company and how decisions are made
• You’ll work directly with the founder across nearly every part of the business
• You’ll gain exposure to strategy, operations, hiring, GTM, and more
• The learning curve is steep — and so is the growth trajectory
This is not a 9–5 role. It’s intense, fast-paced, and often unstructured. A meaningful portion of the work will be operational or unglamorous — but it’s all part of how companies are actually built.
Why Join
For the right person, this is a career-defining role. If you’re early in your career, highly driven, and want to compress years of learning into one — this is the kind of opportunity that rarely exists
