Founders' Associate / Chief of Staff

Clera•San Francisco, CA

3d•$60,000 - $90,000•Hybrid

About The Position

A fast-growing, pre-seed-funded energy intelligence startup is looking for a Founders' Associate / Chief of Staff to work directly alongside the founding team. This is a high-ownership, generalist role at the intersection of enterprise sales, strategy, and operations — designed for someone who wants to be deeply embedded in building a company from the ground up. The company provides an AI-powered platform that helps industrial enterprises optimize energy procurement and portfolio management through data-driven insights. The focus market is energy-intensive enterprise customers across the DACH region.

Requirements

3+ years of experience in enterprise sales or outbound demand generation, building and delivering top-of-funnel pipeline in the DACH region.
Proven track record of owning cross-functional initiatives end-to-end in a startup or early-stage environment.
Experience supporting investor relations — preparing updates, key materials, and collaborating with founders.
Demonstrated ability to build and manage enterprise sales pipeline and outbound prospecting in DACH.
Skilled at creating sales enablement materials (decks, one-pagers, business cases) and tailoring messaging from market feedback.
Proficiency with tools such as HubSpot, LinkedIn Sales Navigator, Notion, and Google Workspace.
Knowledge of energy markets, or a strong and demonstrable ability to learn them quickly and apply insights to sales and product.
Fluency in German (essential for DACH market engagement).
Based in Munich and available to work on-site approximately 4 days per week.

Nice To Haves

Experience in energy sector partnerships or procurement contexts.
Familiarity with MEDDICC or similar enterprise sales methodologies.
Background at companies such as Siemens, Bosch, Viessmann, Schaeffler, Accenture, or similar industrials/energy firms.

Responsibilities

Build and maintain a strong enterprise sales pipeline across DACH in close partnership with the founders.
Run outbound execution end-to-end — cold calls, emails, and LinkedIn outreach with tailored messaging.
Refine ICP, targeting strategy, and value propositions based on market and prospect feedback.
Produce high-quality sales materials including decks, one-pagers, follow-ups, and business cases.
Join discovery calls to surface customer insights and translate them into better positioning and messaging.
Act as an extension of the founders on strategic and operational topics, including investor updates and reporting.
Lead high-priority special projects end-to-end — market research, partnerships, and internal initiatives.
Support marketing content and event preparation (newsletters, social media, messaging).
Rapidly learn energy markets and the product to drive improvements across sales and product strategy.
Operate autonomously in ambiguous environments and continuously iterate on team processes.