Founders Associate

Government technology has failed citizens, veterans, public servants, and service members for decades.

Kaizen powers America’s application layer. We replace the legacy systems federal agencies run on with modern software, built with craft. The ticketing platform a resident uses to visit a presidential library. The marketplace DoW uses to procure counter-drone systems to protect lives and critical infrastructure. The system a Veteran uses to access benefits. We build systems of record, of national consequence. Our AI-native modules and harness allow us to do so in weeks, not years.

This year, our revenue has grown 35x. Next year, our software will serve over 100 million Americans across dozens of federal agencies.

Founded in 2022 and based in New York City and DC, Kaizen has raised $35 million from NEA, a16z, Accel, 776, and Carpenter Capital.

Location

New York, NY (hybrid, 4 days a week in office), with frequent multi-day travel to Washington, DC and occasional travel to San Francisco.

The Role

The founders of Kaizen spend their weeks moving between investors, federal agency leadership, customers and the team, and the strategic layer underneath them has to hold. That layer is this role. You will work directly with the founders, run their inbox and calendar with judgment, do the research before every meeting that matters, coordinate across the team, and track every follow-up until it is closed. This is not a personal assistant role. It is a crash course in how a fast-growing govtech company is actually run, and the work you produce is often what the CEO reads before a high-stakes conversation.

What You'll Do

- Run the CEO's inbox and calendar with judgment: decide what gets their time, draft the replies, and surface what they need to see

- Produce pre-meeting research and advance briefs for investor, partner and government meetings: what matters, what is decided, what needs a call

- Travel with the founders to DC, sit in on meetings with federal agency leadership, and turn notes into next steps that actually happen

- Coordinate across the team on the founders' behalf so decisions reach the right people and nothing stalls waiting on a founder

- Track investor, partner and customer follow-ups so nothing the founders promised slips

- Take on strategic projects that land on the founders' desks with no obvious owner, from first draft to done

- Use AI tools to draft, research and synthesize so the founders get finished work, not raw material

What You'll Bring

- 2 to 4 years of experience in a startup, consulting, banking or a role where you supported a founder or senior executive, or equivalent experience (including having started something yourself)

- A bias to act first and check in after: you figure out what needs doing and move, then loop the founders in at the right moment

- Comfort operating with incomplete information and shifting priorities

- Tight, clear writing under time pressure; your briefs get read, not edited

- Willingness to travel on short notice and to work from the NYC office 4 days a week

Strong Candidates May Also...

- Have worked with or alongside federal agencies, defense stakeholders or public sector partners

- Use AI tools as a core part of how you work, not as a novelty

- Have earned real trust from a founder or senior executive before, and can say what that person came to rely on them for

Don't Apply If...

- You want approval before you act. The founders need someone who moves and reports back, not someone who asks permission.

- You need full context and a clear brief before you can start.

- You get frustrated when priorities shift mid-day, because they will.

- You are expecting to own a strategic function in six months. You will do strategic work, but you will do it for the founders first.

- You want a predictable schedule and no travel.

The founders are building technology that residents and public servants are proud to use. The person in this seat is how they stay fast enough to do it.

WHAT KAIZEN OFFERS

Health & Insurance

- 100% coverage across the board: medical through Oxford/United (Gold and Platinum PPO plans), dental through Guardian PPO, and vision through Beam — all fully covered for employees, with 100% coverage for dependents.

- $100,000 in fully paid life insurance. FSA and Dependent Care FSA.

- One Medical membership, on us — same-day primary care, 24/7 virtual visits, and offices all over the city.

- Fertility and family-building support through Carrot.

- 401(k) through Guideline, with a 2% company match.

Family & Time Off

- 16 weeks of fully paid parental leave for birthing parents. 10 weeks fully paid for non-birthing parents.

- Unlimited PTO, with a two-week minimum (we mean it when we say take time off!)

- Closed for all federal holidays.

- Company-wide winter break the week of Christmas.

- Company offsites throughout the year.

Office & Remote Setup

- Up to $750 one-time home office or desk setup stipend for NYC-based employees. $500 for remote employees.

- $50/month commuter benefit (company contribution).

- Expensed lunch while in the office.

- Dinner and Uber rides home will be expensed if you choose to work in the office past 7pm.

- Company-provided laptop of your choice.

Wellness

- NYC employees: Fully covered gym membership at Grindhouse https://grindhousemhttn.com/ — right across the street from our office at 47 W 17th St (and in Williamsburg). A $225/month value, on us.

- Non-NYC employees: $100 per month, dedicated to gym / physical fitness reimbursement.

Stipends

- $100/month utility stipend.

- $250/quarter home cleaning stipend

- $500/year professional development.

- $250/year recreation.

- $300/quarter pet care stipend.