Founders’ Associate, Office of the CEO

Atomic Machines•Santa Clara, CA

6d•Onsite

About The Position

Atomic Machines is building the Matter Compiler™, an AI-native, all-digital manufacturing system for producing machines directly from code. Its first product is PrimeSwitch™, an electromechanical power relay. The company was founded by Jeff Holden and has raised $250 million. It is based in the San Francisco Bay Area, with offices in Emeryville and Santa Clara. The Founders’ Associate is a high-ownership partner to the founders, spending most of their time supporting the CEO and the remainder supporting the Head of Strategic Growth. The role is intended to multiply the founders’ impact through clear thinking and writing, end-to-end project ownership, and sound judgment about how to focus their time. The associate will contribute to the company’s growth from breakthrough technology to commercial manufacturing. The role is based in the Santa Clara office, with occasional travel to Emeryville preferred. Compensation includes a salary of $175,000–$220,000, equity, and benefits.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree required.
Clear thinking and writing, including the ability to lead with the answer and distill lengthy technical material into concise decisions.
Accuracy and a reliable system for checking important details.
Ability to make recommendations and present options and a point of view when raising problems.
Ability to work with minimal direction, judge when to decide, ask, or escalate, and work mostly in writing.
Willingness to seek truth, raise bad news early, and respectfully challenge unsound reasoning.
Ability to describe specific AI tools and workflows used and where they fall short.
Curiosity about technology, customers, and business; a hardware background is not required.
A track record of remaining in roles long enough to see work through.

Nice To Haves

A hardware background is not required; interest in understanding the technology, customers, and business is valued.

Responsibilities

Run trackers, follow-ups, and action items from leadership meetings, and ensure each is completed.
Prepare briefings and pre-reads for the CEO’s board, investor, customer, and candidate conversations.
Turn long documents and discussions into concise, accurate summaries with clear recommendations.
Own cross-company projects delegated by the founders and drive them to completion across teams.
Draft narratives, memos, and communications in the CEO’s voice to a standard he would approve.
Identify problems or work that is drifting, raise them directly, and propose fixes.
Manage founders’ calendars, priorities, and incoming requests, using judgment about what requires their attention.
Coordinate domestic and international travel and logistics for the CEO.
Serve as a trusted point of contact for the team, investors, customers, and partners.
Handle highly sensitive information with complete discretion.
Support the Head of Strategic Growth, in addition to spending most of the role supporting the CEO.