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Founding Manager Jobs (NOW HIRING)

AccrueTalent

Founding Account Manager

Manhattan, NY

$140K - $200K/yr

About the Role Hiring first Account Manager. Not a CSM. Not an onboarding specialist. A revenue owner. This is a founding role -- the person hired will build the AM function from scratch, own the ...

Virio

Founding Account Manager

San Francisco, CA · On-site

$150K - $200K/yr

Founding Account Manager Location: San Francisco (in-person, in-office, full-time ONLY) Compensation: $150K-$200K base + $25K-$50k cash bonus + top of market equity About Virio Virio is building the ...

Clera

Founding Engineer

San Francisco, CA · On-site

$140K - $180K/yr

Design and consume REST APIs; build and maintain backend services with Node.js * Model and manage ... Collaborate closely with the CTO and founding engineers to shape product direction and technical ...

Pallet

Founding Growth Manager

New York, NY · On-site

$190K - $250K/yr

About the Opportunity We're hiring our first Founding Growth Manager to build, lead, and scale a world-class SDR organization. You'll inherit a growing team, diagnose and optimize current processes ...

SLR Search

Founding Engineer

New York, NY

$200K - $300K/yr

... and managing cloud infrastructure through GCP or AWS. - Founding engineer background with a history of shipping state-of-the-art GenAI applications and solving applied research problems. - Proven ...

Ampersand

Founding Product Manager

San Francisco, CA · On-site

$161K - $230K/yr

The Role We're hiring a Founding Product Manager to take over a product layer that's been founder-owned until now. You'll work alongside the CTO, a founding engineering team, and in close contact ...

New

Opportunity Education

Founding Principal

Fishers, IN · On-site

Founding PrincipalOpportunity Education Fishers, IN About the Organization Opportunity Education is ... Experience managing teams, including managing the managers of others, with a palpably positive and ...

Alpaca Health

Founding Product Manager

New York, NY · On-site

$100K - $200K/yr

Founding Product Manager We are hiring a Founding Product Manager to evolve Alpaca Health from a provider-focused EHR into an AI-native platform that powers every side of our market: providers ...

Alpaca Health

Founding Product Manager

New York, NY · On-site

$100K - $200K/yr

Founding Product Manager We are hiring a Founding Product Manager to evolve Alpaca Health from a provider-focused EHR into an AI-native platform that powers every side of our market: providers ...

Clera

Founding Engineer

San Francisco, CA · On-site

$97K - $129K/yr

Model and manage data using PostgreSQL and Supabase What We're Looking For Required: * Proficiency ... Ability to thrive in a founding-stage startup environment - owning features and shipping rapidly

Clera

Founding Engineer

San Francisco, CA · On-site

$97K - $129K/yr

Model and manage data using PostgreSQL and Supabase What We're Looking For Required: * Proficiency ... Ability to thrive in a founding-stage startup environment -- owning features and shipping rapidly

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Founding Manager information

What is a Founding Manager?

A Founding Manager is one of the earliest leaders or executives in a startup or new company. They are responsible for helping to establish the organization’s vision, culture, and operational foundation. Their duties typically include overseeing daily operations, strategic planning, hiring initial team members, and driving early growth. Founding Managers often work closely with other founders to make critical decisions and set the direction for the company's future. Their role tends to be very hands-on and multifaceted, especially during the company's formative stages.

What does founding manager mean?

A founding manager is a person who is part of the initial leadership team responsible for establishing a new company or department. They often play a key role in shaping the company's strategy, culture, and operations during its early stages and may have responsibilities related to hiring, planning, and securing resources. This role typically requires strong leadership, strategic thinking, and entrepreneurial skills.

What is the difference between Founding Manager vs Project Manager?

AspectFounding ManagerProject Manager
CredentialsExperience in startup leadership, business developmentProject management certifications (PMP, CAPM), relevant industry experience
Work EnvironmentStartup or new business environment, high uncertaintyCorporate or organizational settings, structured projects
Employer & Industry UsageFounders, startups, new business venturesCompanies across industries managing specific projects
Search & Comparison IntentUnderstanding leadership roles in startupsManaging projects, timelines, and deliverables

The Founding Manager typically leads new business initiatives, focusing on startup growth and strategic direction, often with entrepreneurial experience. In contrast, a Project Manager oversees specific projects within established organizations, ensuring timely delivery and resource management. While both roles require leadership and organizational skills, the Founding Manager operates in a more dynamic, uncertain environment, whereas the Project Manager works within structured project frameworks.

What is the 70/30 rule in hiring?

The 70/30 rule in hiring suggests that 70% of a candidate's value comes from their skills and experience, while 30% is based on cultural fit and potential. For a Founding Manager, this emphasizes assessing both technical expertise and alignment with company values during the hiring process.

What jobs pay $500,000 a year in the US?

High-level executive roles such as CEOs, CFOs, and other C-suite positions often have annual compensation exceeding $500,000, especially in large corporations. Additionally, successful entrepreneurs, top-tier investment bankers, and certain specialized medical specialists can earn this level of income, often supplemented by bonuses, stock options, or profit sharing.

What jobs make $1,000,000 a year?

Founding managers or entrepreneurs in successful startups and businesses can earn over $1 million annually through salaries, bonuses, and equity. High-level executives such as CEOs and CFOs of large corporations also often reach this income level, especially with stock options and performance incentives. These roles typically require extensive experience, leadership skills, and often involve significant risk and responsibility.

What are some unique challenges a Founding Manager might face when building an early-stage team?

As a Founding Manager, you’ll often be tasked with assembling a team from the ground up, which can be both exciting and challenging. One common hurdle is recruiting and retaining top talent with limited resources and minimal brand recognition. You’ll also need to wear multiple hats, balancing strategic planning with hands-on execution, while fostering a collaborative culture in a fast-paced, uncertain environment. Flexibility, resilience, and strong communication skills are crucial for navigating these challenges and setting the foundation for long-term success.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a Founding Manager, and why are they important?

To thrive as a Founding Manager, you need strong leadership, strategic planning, and business development skills, often backed by entrepreneurial experience or a degree in business management. Familiarity with startup tools such as project management software (e.g., Asana, Trello), CRM platforms, and basic financial systems is highly beneficial. Exceptional communication, resilience, and adaptability are crucial soft skills for navigating uncertainty and motivating early teams. These qualities enable a Founding Manager to drive growth, build a cohesive team, and successfully launch and scale new ventures.
More about Founding Manager jobs
What cities are hiring for Founding Manager jobs? Cities with the most Founding Manager job openings:
What are the most commonly searched types of Founding jobs? The most popular types of Founding jobs are:
What states have the most Founding Manager jobs? States with the most job openings for Founding Manager jobs include:
What job categories do people searching Founding Manager jobs look for? The top searched job categories for Founding Manager jobs are:
Founding Manager jobs near you
Infographic showing various Founding Manager job openings in the United States as of July 2026, with employment types broken down into 79% Full Time, 20% Part Time, and 1% Contract. Highlights an 93% Physical, 2% Hybrid, and 5% Remote job distribution.

Machine Learning Engineering Manager, App SW

Wayve

Sunnyvale, CA • On-site, Remote

$336K - $381K/yr

Other

Re-posted 23 days ago

Job description

 The Role 

We're looking for an exceptional leader to spearhead our new Application Engineering team, a self-sufficient and high-impact group focused on localising and advancing our autonomous driving technology for the US market. This is a unique opportunity to shape Wayve's AV capabilities in the US from the ground up.

As a founding manager, you'll lead a small but mighty team of engineers working across robotics, machine learning, and systems integration. You'll drive development of autonomy features tailored for US's road infrastructure, cultural driving behaviours, and regulatory landscape, ensuring our AV stack performs safely and effectively in this highly distinctive environment.

We're looking for someone who thrives in self-directed, startup-like conditions, capable of setting a vision, executing fast, and making robust decisions independently - while staying aligned with global engineering efforts.

This role requires breadth: strong experience across AV systems, including robotics and autonomy, is essential. If you also bring deep expertise in machine learning, that's a major plus.

Key Responsibilities:
  • Build and lead a self-sufficient AV development team in the US, hiring and mentoring top talent across Robotics and ML.
  • Deliver autonomy capabilities tailored to road conditions and driving norms, in close collaboration with central Autonomy teams.
  • Drive full-cycle development: from identifying local autonomy needs, to designing, implementing, testing, and deploying features into production.
  • Ensure the team upholds Wayve's high engineering standards, while operating with agility and independence.
  • Work closely with OEM partners in the US - representing Wayve's autonomy team in technical discussions, capturing product requirements, and shaping joint development plans.
  • Establish close working relationships with our product and vehicle operations teams in the US.
About you 

To be successful in this role, you'll bring strong technical expertise, proven leadership skills, and a passion for building robust autonomous systems that can adapt to diverse real-world challenges.

Essential
  • A strong background in robotics and autonomy, with experience building and deploying systems that operate in real-world environments.
  • Demonstrated ability to lead and grow high-performing engineering teams, ideally in geographically distributed or independent settings.
  • Comfortable with ambiguity: you can define goals, carve out roadmaps, and deliver high-impact work with minimal supervision.
  • Broad technical fluency: capable of reviewing and guiding work across software engineering, ML, controls, and systems integration.
  • Excellent communication skills: you're able to clearly convey technical context and strategic vision across cultures and time zones.
  • Strong product sense and stakeholder management skills: you're comfortable interfacing directly with OEM customers and representing engineering in external-facing conversations.
Desirable
  • Prior experience in autonomous vehicles or robotic systems operating at scale.
  • Familiarity with US's road environment, driving behaviour, or AV regulatory landscape.
  • A strong foundation in machine learning and its application to real-time decision-making or perception systems.

This role is a full-time role based in Sunnyvale, CA  or Detroit (hybrid) and the reasonably estimated salary for this role ranges from $336,400 to $381,600, plus a competitive equity package. Actual compensation is based on the candidate's skills, qualifications, and experience.

At Wayve we want the best of all worlds so we operate a hybrid working policy that combines time together in our offices and workshops to fuel innovation, culture, relationships and learning, and time spent working from home.  We operate core working hours so you can determine the schedule that works best for you and your team.  

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