Innovation & Exploration Associate

Innovation & Exploration Associate Turn real restaurant insights into hands-on experiments and scalable solutions that make sunday simpler to adopt, while shaping the future of restaurant payments across Europe. Apply to this job 👋 About Us sunday is building the fastest, simplest way to pay in restaurants. With a quick scan of a QR code, diners can pay, tip, and leave in about 10 seconds. We believe great products should feel obvious, not complicated, and we focus relentlessly on keeping things simple while earning trust from restaurants and guests at every interaction. Today, sunday powers payments in thousands of restaurants across the US, UK, and France, helping operators turn tables faster, increase tips, and unlock valuable insights. We push ourselves to go beyond what’s expected, building with ownership, moving fast, and scaling with ambition as we tackle our biggest growth opportunity in the US. About the Role As an Innovation & Exploration Associate, you’ll join sunday’s European Innovation & Exploration Lab. Your mission will be to help us understand and solve the biggest barriers to adoption of sunday in restaurants. You’ll work at the intersection of field operations, Product, Data and Strategy — starting with real-world observations and ending with experiments, evidence and scalable solutions. This is not a traditional strategy or coordination role. You’ll spend significant time in restaurants with owners, managers, staff and guests. You’ll identify friction points, formulate hypotheses, build prototypes, run experiments and analyse what happens next. This is a hands-on associate role within the European Innovation & Exploration Lab, focused on turning field observations into experiments, evidence and scalable solutions. You’ll take ideas from ambiguity to evidence. You’ll create learning through doing and help us decide what to continue, pivot, scale or stop. You’ll report to the EU Innovation & Exploration Lead and work closely with Country Operations, Product and Data teams. You’ll own real problems from day one and be expected to move them forward — from the first observation in the field to the final recommendation. This role is a great opportunity for an entrepreneurial person who wants to learn quickly, operate close to customers and have a direct impact on how sunday evolves operationally and how it impacts restaurants. Join early, grow fast, and shape the journey! Key Responsibilities Stay close to the field: Spend significant time in restaurants with owners, managers, staff and guests to understand how sunday is used and where friction occurs. Identify adoption barriers: Detect the operational, behavioural and product-related issues that prevent restaurants and guests from fully adopting sunday. Turn observations into hypotheses: Translate field insights into clear problems, opportunities and testable ideas. Build and run experiments: Design practical pilots, prototypes and operational tests that help us understand which levers can improve adoption. Own experiments end to end: Define the objective and success criteria, coordinate the relevant stakeholders, launch the test, monitor the results and document the learnings. Create evidence through execution: Analyse what worked and what did not, understand the reasons behind the results and iterate quickly. Report clearly on your findings: Share concise, structured updates on your experiments and recommend what to continue, pivot, scale or stop. Help scale what works: Partner with Product, Data, Operations and Commercial teams to turn validated experiments into repeatable processes, product improvements or commercial initiatives. About You Must-haves You have 1–3 years of experience in a fast-paced organisation. You have a strong bias for action: when you see a problem, your instinct is to solve it rather than simply report it. You are comfortable working in ambiguous situations and creating structure where there is none. You are analytical and methodical, with the ability to formulate hypotheses and draw clear conclusions from qualitative and quantitative insights. You take ownership of your work and follow through from idea to execution. You are energised by spending time with clients and operational teams in the field. You communicate clearly and can adapt your message to different audiences, from restaurant teams to senior stakeholders. You naturally look for granular insights and dig deeper to understand the root cause of a problem. You are comfortable testing ideas, learning quickly from results and changing direction when needed. You use AI and modern tools extensively to investigate, solve and execute more effectively. Nice-to-haves Experience in a startup or another highly entrepreneurial environment. Experience in an operations-heavy, field-based or client-facing role. Experience running experiments, pilots, user research or operational improvement projects. Experience founding or building a company, team, association or new initiative. Familiarity with the hospitality or restaurant industry. Experience working with Product, Data or Commercial teams. The qualities that will make you successful Entrepreneurial spirit. Curiosity and intellectual rigour. Strong practical sense. Resilience and resourcefulness. A genuine appetite for fieldwork. The ability to move quickly without losing structure. What We Offer A competitive salary + Stock Options A great office in the heart of Paris (10th arrondissement) with a balance of in-person and remote work Free Vacation Policy 100% Employer-Covered Health Insurance for you and your children Ticket Restaurant 50% of your public transportation covered 🐾 Steps in our Recruitment Process Share your story: Application with resume Let's get to know each other through a phone screen interview Meet with the hiring manager Impress your future colleagues with a case study Meet with a Leader Reference Checks (3 most recent managers) Offer: we want you Thank you for taking the time to apply, and looking forward to getting to know you! sunday is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, creed, color, sex, affectional or sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, gender, ethnicity, religion, national origin, ancestry, nationality, age, disability, marital status, veteran status, genetic information, or on any other basis prohibited by law (except where an attribute is a bona fide occupational qualification). Department Operations Locations Paris, France Remote status Hybrid Employment type Full-time Team EU Innovation & Exploration Lab