Founder's Associate
Salary: £40k plus equity
About Social Mobility Ventures (SMV)
Social Mobility Ventures (SMV) exists to tackle one of the biggest blind spots in UK tech and venture: socioeconomic inclusion.
The UK has no shortage of talent from state-school and low-income backgrounds. What it lacks is clear pathways - to early career opportunities, to entrepreneurship, and to investment.
SMV is building a full-stack platform to change that.
We operate across three connected layers:
- Talent – unlocking early access to startup roles and high-signal career pathways
- Founders – supporting operators and builders to take the leap into entrepreneurship
- Investment – backing underrepresented founders at inception and pre-seed
Our work spans programmes, partnerships, capital, and narrative-shifting research - bringing together startups, VCs, corporates, government, and philanthropies to build a more meritocratic tech ecosystem.
The Role
We’re looking for an Operations Lead to work directly with the founding team to drive execution across SMV’s platform - with a particular focus on Talent pathways.
This is a hands-on, high-ownership role. One day you might be working with graduates on a career programme or supporting early-career talent through a live initiative; the next, you’re collaborating with startups and scaleups to design hiring pathways, or working with corporates to deliver talent-focused campaigns.
You’ll sit at the centre of SMV’s activity - turning ideas into live programmes, partnerships into outcomes, and ambition into execution.
What You’ll Be Doing
Programme & Operations
- Project-manage flagship talent and startup/scaleup initiatives from concept through to delivery and iteration
- Build lightweight but effective operating processes to keep multiple workstreams moving in parallel
- Own timelines, dependencies, and delivery standards across programmes
Partnerships & Business Development
- Own relationships with employers, charities, VCs, and delivery partners - identifying win-wins and converting conversations into action
- Support commercial and philanthropic fundraising efforts across Talent, Founder, and Investment initiatives
- Help shape partnership propositions, decks, and materials
Events, Campaigns & Execution
- Lead logistics and delivery for events, roundtables, and community moments
- Coordinate outreach campaigns and ecosystem engagement across founders, operators, and investors
Product, Comms & Infrastructure
- Contribute to the development of SMV’s product layer - guides, playbooks, toolkits, and programme resources
- Support comms and narrative work, ensuring clarity and consistency across Talent, Founder, and Investment messaging
Keeping the Machine Moving
- Track progress, flag risks early, and unblock bottlenecks
- Bring structure to ambiguity - without slowing things down
- Act as a connective tissue across founders, partners, and internal stakeholders
You’ll Thrive in This Role If You...
- Are a natural operator who gets energy from turning ideas into reality
- Have experience in project / programme management, partnerships, or growth roles
- Are comfortable wearing multiple hats - strategic when needed, hands-on by default
- Understand (or are deeply curious about) the UK startup, VC, and tech ecosystem
- Enjoy building things from scratch: programmes, partnerships, processes
- Can operate in ambiguity, prioritise ruthlessly, and know when speed matters more than perfection
- Are motivated by the belief that talent is evenly distributed, opportunity is not
Why Join SMV?
- Work on one of the most important and under-addressed challenges in UK tech
- Play a central role in building a platform that spans talent, founders, and capital
- Collaborate with senior leaders across startups, VC, corporates, government, and philanthropy
- Shape your role and grow with the organisation as it scales
Our partners and collaborators include leaders from Atomico, DSIT, LocalGlobe, Google, and beyond.
To Apply
Send your CV (or LinkedIn) and a few lines on why this role excites you to
david@socialmobility.ventures
No formal cover letter required - we care more about judgement, energy, and execution mindset than perfect formatting.