Founder Associate Intern

About the Role This is a hands-on internship embedded directly within the founding team of a pre-seed AI recruiting startup, working to connect exceptional talent with career-defining opportunities at top VC-backed companies. You'll play a pivotal role in delivering an outstanding candidate experience and driving real outcomes at a critical stage of company growth. The role carries genuine responsibility and is ideal for someone who thrives in high-ownership, fast-moving environments. What You'll Do Manage relationships with candidates end-to-end, from initial outreach through placement. Identify and engage exceptional talent seeking roles at high-growth startups. Collaborate directly with founders to match candidates to the right opportunities. Optimize and automate recruiting workflows to improve speed and quality of outcomes. Contribute to process improvements across candidate sourcing, screening, and communication. Support cross-functional initiatives as a generalist on a small founding team. What We're Looking For At least 3 months of prior internship experience in a fast-paced environment such as consulting, sales, startups, or venture capital. Demonstrated ability to own initiatives end-to-end and deliver results with minimal oversight. Strong written and verbal communication skills, verifiable through professional or project work. Experience working in entrepreneurial, informal, and rapidly evolving team environments. Evidence of exceptional academic or professional performance — e.g., strong academic record, selective university attendance, substantial project work, or active technical contributions. Willingness to relocate to San Francisco and participate in a shared living/working (hackerhouse) setup for the duration of the internship. Comfortable committing to a six-day work week during the internship period. Prior experience in recruiting, talent acquisition, or candidate relationship management is a plus. Familiarity with the VC-backed startup ecosystem is a plus. Experience with workflow automation or process optimization is a plus. Location On-site in San Francisco, CA . This role operates from a shared hacker-house environment — you will live and work alongside the founding team. Relocation to San Francisco is required. Visa sponsorship is available.