Founding Deployment Strategist

About the Role

A Y Combinator–backed enterprise AI SaaS startup (S24 batch, 11–50 employees) is hiring a Founding Deployment Strategist to lead its European expansion from Munich. This is a founding-level, high-ownership role where you will work directly with the CEO to turn large enterprises into AI-native operators.

The company builds an agentic operating system for enterprises — enabling business teams to automate complex operational and sales workflows using AI. You will be at the forefront of deploying these capabilities inside some of Europe's largest organizations.

Visa sponsorship is not available for this role. Native-level German proficiency and Munich-based presence (or willingness to relocate) are required.

What You'll Do

• Lead the European rollout of the platform from Munich, partnering directly with the CEO on go-to-market strategy and execution.

• Diagnose high-leverage AI opportunities within enterprise customers and prioritize the highest-value use cases.

• Build initial agents and workflows to prove ROI, then scale adoption organization-wide.

• Run agent hackathons and coach C-suite stakeholders on rollout strategy and AI transformation.

• Navigate complex internal politics to identify champions, remove blockers, and build relationships at all levels of large organizations.

• Represent the voice of the customer to product and engineering teams, advocating for necessary features and changes.

• Hire, mentor, and shape the European team as the company scales.

• Systematically automate manual processes — including within your own role — using the platform's agents.

• Own outcomes end-to-end and proactively tackle challenges beyond the formal job description.

What We're Looking For

Required:

• Native or professional-level German proficiency (spoken and written) — required for executive-level collaboration across European enterprise accounts.

• Deep, hands-on experience shipping AI agents, workflows, or production ML/AI features in enterprise environments.

• Proven track record leading enterprise AI deployment programs — including strategy, implementation, and impact measurement.

• Strong understanding of model selection, routing, evaluation design, data residency, and integration architecture.

• Demonstrated ability to drive adoption in large, complex organizations and manage renewals and expansion.

• Proven stakeholder management across both executive and operational levels within enterprise customers.

• Experience building and leading cross-functional deployment teams.

• Comfortable operating in a founding/startup environment with high ambiguity and a need for rapid iteration.

Nice to Have:

• Background at a top-tier consultancy, enterprise technology company, or previous founding/early-stage startup experience.

• Experience influencing revenue outcomes (renewals, upsells, expansion).

• High ownership mindset — low ego, high agency, bias for action.

Location

This is an on-site role based in Munich, Germany. Candidates must be located in Munich or willing to relocate. The company's headquarters is in San Francisco, CA, USA, with the European hub in Munich.

Compensation & Benefits

Compensation details have not been specified for this role. As a founding-level hire at a well-funded, fast-growing AI startup, the package is expected to include a competitive salary and meaningful equity participation. Details will be discussed directly during the interview process.