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.