Founder's Associate (Contractor, Remote, 1-2 days a week)

• Contractor / freelance engagement 
• Initially 1-2 day per week, with the potential to quickly scale as the role takes shape and begins to drive impact.
• Remote-first 
• £35–£40 per hour, depending on experience 

Company Description

The Culture Craft is a People & Culture agency that partners with fast-scaling startups (typically Series A–C) to build the operating systems that enable people and performance to scale together. 

We work differently from traditional consultancies. Our work is delivery-led, productised, and sprint-based - with fixed scope, clear outputs, and complete cost transparency. We embed closely with founders and leadership teams to turn culture into practical, scalable infrastructure that unlocks potential and drives commercial performance. 

As the business continues to grow, we’re looking to bring in a Founder’s Associate to support delivery and operations and help free up founder capacity. 

Role Description

This is a fractional, contractor role, initially scoped at around one day per week. The intention is to start small, work closely together, and shape the role based on where it has the greatest impact. 

There is a strong appetite - and likelihood - for this role to scale as the business grows. Based on progress and traction to date, this is expected to increase in scope and could evolve into a longer-term, and potentially permanent, role. 

The core purpose of the role is to reduce operational drag and clear cognitive load for the founder - ensuring work moves forward smoothly without everything needing to sit with one person. 

This role requires someone who can take work off the founder’s plate from day one. While you’ll be given context, access, and priorities, this is not a role with capacity for close day-to-day handholding and requires a high degree of initiative, strategic thinking, systemic thinking and the ability to wear multiple hats across all areas of business operations.

What You’ll Do 

Working closely with the founder, you’ll provide hands-on operational and delivery support across the business. This may include: 

• Taking ownership of tasks and seeing them through end-to-end 
• Coordinating actions, follow-ups, and information across multiple workstreams 
• Drafting, organising, and improving documents, trackers, and client-ready materials 
• Supporting client delivery by keeping work moving behind the scenes 
• Maintaining systems and records (e.g. project boards, trackers, CRM, Microsoft ecosystem, financial information) 
• Identifying inefficiencies and proposing practical improvements 
• Helping prioritise and organise work so focus stays on the highest-value activity 

The exact mix of work will evolve, but success in this role depends on being comfortable working independently, making sound decisions, and progressing work without detailed instruction. 

A Note on Scope 

This is not a traditional Executive Assistant role. It does not involve diary management, inbox management, travel coordination, or personal assistance. 

However, candidates who have previously supported startup founders in an EA or similar capacity - and who are interested in applying that experience to broader operational and delivery-focused work - are encouraged to apply. 

This role is: 

• Contractor / freelance / fractional 
• Hands-on and execution-focused 
• Designed to create immediate operational leverage 
• Likely to grow in responsibility as the business scales 

This role is not: 

• A consulting or advisory role 
• A pure HR role (though HR or People experience is helpful) 
• A sales or business development role (though you will support sales efforts)

Experience & Skills 

Ideally, you'll have HR/People & Culture experience, but we are more interested in experience as a:

• Founder’s Associate, junior Chief of Staff, or Associate CoS 
• EA or senior administrative support in a startup or scale-up environment 
• Operations or delivery coordinator in an agency, consultancy, or startup 
• Startup generalist used to wearing multiple hats and driving work forward 

You’re likely someone who: 

• Is comfortable taking ownership from day one 
• Can work with limited direction and shifting priorities 
• Brings structure, follow-through, and sound judgement 
• Gets satisfaction from making things run more smoothly 

Diversity & Ways of Working 

At The Culture Craft, we work differently - and our clients value that difference. 

Our approach is rooted in systems thinking, pattern recognition, and a low tolerance for unnecessary friction. This way of working consistently resonates with founders and leadership teams who want clarity, momentum, and practical delivery over theory. 

Because of this, we are particularly interested in hearing from neurodivergent applicants, who may bring strengths especially well-suited to this role, such as structured thinking, problem-solving, focus, and the ability to see connections others may miss. 

We actively encourage applications from neurodivergent candidates and are happy to discuss working preferences or reasonable adjustments at any stage of the process. All appointments are made on merit.