Keep a tech startup running smoothly. Prove it in the results.
Gain real operations experience and create evidence you can show employers. You help a tech startup run its processes, tools, projects and AI agents, so the founder can focus on the product and customers, and you leave with results and a Tech Founder reference.
Open to every level, from first steps to leading the team. Voluntary and fully remote, up to three hours a day across a 60 Volunteer day term.
See how a whole company runs, not one department.
In a large company operations roles are narrow. In an early tech startup you touch everything: tools, projects, suppliers, data and the AI agents the founder relies on. You learn how a company really runs, fast.
The whole company
Processes and projects across product, sales and finance.
AI in practice
Supervise the AI agents and tools a modern startup runs on.
Time you give back
Measurable hours and costs saved for the founder.
Find your starting point.
Tech startups need operations people at every level. Check which description fits you, what you should already know and what you would take on.
New to operations
Graduates and career changers who are organised and like getting things done.
- You should already know
- How to keep tasks, documents and calendars in order.
- You would take on
- Founder support, scheduling, documentation and keeping tools tidy with guidance.
From another field
People from administration, hospitality, retail management, teaching or the armed forces.
- You should already know
- How to run a busy day, coordinate people and follow a process.
- You would take on
- Running projects, documenting processes and coordinating suppliers.
Already in operations
Operations, project and business analysts who want startup experience.
- You should already know
- Process mapping, project planning and reporting.
- You would take on
- Owning a process or project end to end, automating tasks and supervising AI agents.
Ready to lead
Operations managers, COOs and programme leads, including people returning after a break.
- You should already know
- How to design operations and lead a team across functions.
- You would take on
- Setting up how the company runs, leading the operations team and reporting to the founder.
Seven operations roles, one pathway.
These are the operations roles tech startups recruit as they grow, starting with the first humans a founder brings in. Start in one, then grow across the team as your Volunteer Terms add up.
Head of Operations
Owns how the company runs: processes, tools, suppliers and reporting across every team.
Agent Operator
Briefs, supervises and checks the AI agents, and signs off what they produce. Read about the role.
Founder's Assistant or Executive Assistant
Takes on the ad hoc tasks, diary and follow-ups so the founder can focus.
Project Manager
Plans projects, tracks progress and keeps deadlines met.
Business Operations Analyst
Maps processes, finds bottlenecks and recommends fixes.
Process and Automation Specialist
Automates repeat tasks with no-code tools and AI.
Data and Reporting Analyst
Builds dashboards and weekly reports the founder trusts.
Opportunities change daily. Create your free Volunteer profile to see live operations opportunities and apply.
What a Volunteer Term can look like.
Every tech startup is different. This example, a process project, shows the kind of deliverables a operations Volunteer takes on, step by step.
Shadow the founder
Spend a week listing the repeat tasks that take the founder's time.
Map the top process
Document the most time-consuming process step by step.
Simplify and automate
Remove steps, then automate what is left with the startup's tools or an AI agent.
Write the playbook
Write a short guide so anyone can run the process.
Report the time saved
Share hours saved and errors removed in your weekly update.
Contributor, then owner, then lead.
Many Volunteers continue for up to three consecutive Volunteer Terms by mutual agreement. Each term can add responsibility, and every handover matters, because succession planning keeps the startup moving when you move on.
Contribute
Support the founder, document processes and keep tools tidy.
Own
Own a process or project end to end and automate it.
Lead
Lead operations, coach newer Volunteers and hand over a documented operations manual.
Leave with evidence, not a list of courses.
Depending on your role and the deliverables you complete, a Volunteer Term can leave you with evidence a hiring manager can check.
Processes you designed
Playbooks the team actually follows.
Automations you built
Tasks that now run without anyone touching them.
Projects you delivered
On time, with a clear record of what changed.
Time and money saved
Hours freed and costs cut, in numbers.
A Tech Founder reference
You can ask the Tech Founder you collaborated with for a reference.
Global connections
Connections with founders and operators across 158+ countries.
Agents do the tasks. People own the outcome.
Startups now run on AI agents that draft, research and process at any hour. Someone has to brief them, check them and be accountable for what they produce. That is the new heart of operations, and Volunteers who learn it now will be in demand.
Brief the agents
Turn goals into clear instructions agents can follow.
Check the output
Catch errors before anything leaves the company.
Be accountable
Sign off what the agents produce, as the named human.
Collaborate across the startup.
No team stands alone at an early tech startup. These are the pathways you will collaborate with most.
HR
The people team you coordinate with on onboarding and tools.
Finance
The finance team whose reports and budgets you support.
Product Management
The product managers whose projects you help deliver.
All career pathways
See every pathway, from market research to legal.
What happens after you click.
Four simple steps from sign up to your first deliverable.
Create your free profile
Sign up as a Volunteer. It takes a couple of minutes.
Set out your operations skills
Add your experience, the tools you know and any results, honestly.
Apply to opportunities
Apply to operations opportunities at tech startups, up to three live applications at a time.
Agree and deliver
Interview, sign the Volunteer Agreement, agree the outcome brief and deliver from Day 1 with daily and weekly updates.
Before you apply.
Can I join without operations experience? +
Is this paid? +
How much time must I commit? +
What is an Agent Operator? +
I am a founder. Who should I bring in first? +
Will this help me get a job? +
Run the company behind the product.
Join a tech startup's operations team for a 60 Volunteer day term. Free, fully remote and flexible.
Create your free profile, set out your skills and interests, and apply for suitable tech startup opportunities. You can hold up to three live applications at a time.