Founders Operations Associate

Join Papaya – Work Side-by-Side with the CEO Papaya is rethinking the fleet management industry, building the first AI Copilot for fleets to reduce downtime, cut CO₂ emissions, and lower total cost of ownership (TCO). We’re a lean and ambitious startup with huge opportunities ahead.

This is a rare chance to work directly with the CEO . You’ll be in the room for critical decisions, have a hand in running the company, and get unmatched exposure to the reality of building an early-stage startup.

Our Team We’re a lean, fun, international team with very different paths into tech. We don’t care about degrees, fancy titles, or big-company logos on your CV. What matters is passion for building, ownership, and making an impact to transform an industry from the ground up.

Everyone Has a Voice We work in an environment where you can actually make change happen . If you have an idea for a feature or process, you run with it. Our mindset : strong opinions, loosely held.

Iterate to Move Fast We believe in shipping value, not endless meetings. Build small, ship fast, learn, and improve. We launched our MVP in 1 month (with 2 engineers), signed our first customer right after, and raised our first round within 3 months. That’s how we roll.

The Role We’re hiring a Founder’s Operations Associate to help run Papaya day-to-day. This is a hands-on role that mixes operations, admin, and strategic projects.

You’ll :

Work directly with the CEO on both operations and strategy.

Own the essentials : payroll, onboarding / off-boarding, HR docs, accountants coordination.

Maintain our P&L and support quarterly financial reporting.

Build customer and investor decks , proposals, and quarterly updates.

Lead market research and validation : competitor scans, market sizing, interviews, analysis.

Draft crisp communications : investor updates, customer emails, team strategy memos.

Support hiring : sourcing, scheduling, onboarding.

Collaborate cross-functionally with product, engineering, and commercial teams.

Be a sparring partner to the CEO : test ideas, challenge assumptions, bring solutions.

Solve problems with a solution-oriented mindset and keep things organised.

Who you are Proactive and hungry - you see gaps and fill them.

Problem-solver with a solution-oriented mindset.

Highly organized and comfortable juggling many threads.

Excellent communicator in English (written and spoken).

Strong with Excel / Sheets and presentations (Slides / PowerPoint).

Thrive in fast-moving, uncertain environments; early-stage startup mentality.

Self-aware, coachable, and a true team player.

What you’ll get Work directly with the CEO, gaining unmatched exposure to startup leadership.

A front-row seat to a company going from 0→1 and beyond.

Steep learning curve : touch finance, ops, strategy, product, and growth.

Flexibility : autonomy to shape your journey, with trust to work flexibly as soon as you deliver outcomes.

Team socials, access to events, mentorship, and a collaborative culture. We work hard and have fun!

Who this role is not for If you want a pure strategy role with no admin - this isn’t it.

If you need lots of structure and process - we don’t have that yet.

If you can’t switch between payroll spreadsheets and customer decks in the same day - you’ll struggle.

If work is just “work” for you and not a passion - this won’t be the right fit.

Equity stake , everyone gets a slice of the pie.

Competitive compensation.

A vibrant HQ in Norrsken Impact House in Barcelona, right by the beach, with a young, international team.

Be part of a defining early-stage startup backed by world-class investors.

Real impact, contribute to redefining an entire industry.

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