Founder’s Associate

As a **Founder’s Associate** at SANOVIO, you will play a key role in building the operational backbone behind our procurement infrastructure, tackling one of the most complex cost and execution problems in European healthcare.

This is a fast-paced, hands-on role for people with high agency, strong analytical depth, and a founder mindset. We’re looking for a generalist who owns processes end-to-end, thrives amid uncertainty and incomplete requirements, and communicates clearly with many different stakeholders. You will work directly with the founders at the intersection of **tech, global supply chain execution, and medical device operations**, and you will be expected to understand how the business actually works, not just coordinate tasks. That includes engaging with **technical systems**, **financial data**, and **operational tooling** deeply enough to identify what is broken and how to fix it.

If you execute strongly, chances are excellent to grow into a **leadership position within ~2 years**.

## Tasks

• Owning high-impact projects end-to-end, from defining the problem to driving execution and measurable outcomes
• Building and optimising workflows across sourcing, supplier onboarding, documentation, order execution, and exception handling
• Translating operational pain points into clear requirements for tooling, dashboards, automation, and process changes
• Partnering with engineers, operators, and external stakeholders to implement improvements quickly and reliably
• Rapidly understanding complex systems across product, supply chain, finance, and operations and making them better
• Producing clear documentation, analysis, and recommendations for the founders and the wider team
• Supporting strategic initiatives such as market rollouts, partnerships, and key customer and supplier projects
• Driving stakeholder communication across hospitals, manufacturers, logistics partners, and internal teams
• Identifying gaps, inefficiencies, and risks early and resolving them before they become visible problems

## Requirements

We are looking for high-potential generalists with strong execution ability and the potential to grow and lead teams in the future. **1–2 years of experience is a plus**, but we hire for skill, ownership, and output.

**General Profile**

• High ownership and self-initiative, you do not wait for tasks, you make them happen
• Strong judgement and ability to prioritise well, you understand 80/20 and move fast
• Comfortable with ambiguity and missing requirements, you turn unclear problems into shipped solutions
• Strong communication skills and stakeholder management across cultures and functions
• Analytical and structured thinking, comfortable working with numbers and operational detail
• Strong problem-solving ability and fast adoption of new tools and technologies
• Motivation to build excellent processes and execution systems in a fast-paced startup environment
• English and German is your primary working language and you communicate clearly and confidently, written and spoken
• Willingness to work in-person in Munich with a higher intensity than a traditional 9–5 role

**Technical and tool affinity**

• Technically literate and comfortable reasoning about systems, data flows, and tooling
• Familiarity with at least one programming language such as Python or JavaScript is a plus
• Strong tool skills in Excel and PowerPoint, plus tools such as Notion, Figma, and Zapier/n8n

**Bonus if you**

• Have experience in consulting, startups, venture capital, operations, product, or project management
• Have worked with regulated industries, medical devices, cross-border trade, or supply chain topics
• Speak Chinese fluently

## Benefits

• Great central office in Munich with regular team events and dinners
• Monthly wellness budget
• Access to any AI or productivity tools you need to do your best work
• Fast growth and career development during a rapid scaling phase with high-impact responsibility
• International scope & travel
• Flexible work setup with time-zone responsibility
• Meaningful compensation package including cash, performance bonus, and shares

_(Actual offers and compensation are based on specific job duties, experience, performance, total rewards structure, and other considerations)_

**About the interview process**

**Step 1: Intro call**

Casual intro meeting with one of the founders to get to know each other and introduce SANOVIO.

**Step 2: Case exercise**

A take-home exercise, including a short presentation.

For the take-home exercise, we’d provide you with a task. You’ll have 2–3 hours to complete it, focused on a real SANOVIO operational problem at the intersection of tech and supply chain. Later, you’ll present your approach and results to us.

**Step 3: Personal Fit**

Meet another co-founder to get a feel for our culture and working style.

**Step 4: Offer & Reference Checks**

If we see a great fit, you will get an offer, including a competitive compensation package. At the same time, we’ll ask you to provide 2–3 references so we can gather additional insights into your strengths and working style.