Startup Generalist (Ex-Founders)

Data Science problems are everywhere, but the talent is not. At Zams, our vision is to turn every company into an AI company. We do this by providing businesses with access to world class, on-demand data science talent that helps them solve real business problems. On the back end, we empower data scientists with a set of internal groundbreaking tools to help them deliver results in minutes, not months. 

We’re a small, scrappy group of people with a strong bent toward failing fast, bias for action and attention to detail. We’re focused on doing the best work of our lives and believe in having a healthy separation of work and play. We keep working hours flexible and are building a team with most of us located in San Francisco, CA and others working remotely around the world. 

Zams is backed by some of the top venture capital firms in the US, and you’ll be on the ground floor of a fast-growing company with a big mission.

About You

Startups are hard. But what makes them work is simple: extreme ownership, bias for action, and people who know how to turn chaos into clarity. That’s who we’re looking for.

We believe the best people often don’t fit neatly into a job title — they’ve started companies, worn every hat, and thrive when given too much responsibility and not enough instruction. That’s the kind of energy we’re hiring for.

As a Generalist Operator (we’ll come up with a better title together), you’ll plug into the highest-leverage opportunities across the company — from building internal systems to launching new products or tackling existential strategy questions. You’ll work directly with the founding team, operate independently, and help shape the company as it grows.

Here are some of the qualities we look for in a perfect hire:

• You've built something from scratch — ideally as a founder or an early hire at a startup
• You have a “see it, solve it” mentality and don’t wait for permission to act
• You’re highly structured in how you think, but comfortable executing in messy environments
• You know how to communicate clearly, navigate ambiguity, and pull signal from noise
• You care about outcomes more than optics, and default to ownership over delegation

Responsibilities:

• Thinks like an owner, not an employee. Sees problems and acts without waiting for direction.
• Identify high-leverage problems and take full ownership to solve them
• Work closely with the founders to make decisions, test hypotheses, and move quickly
• Strong Communicator → Can talk to customers, sales, and engineering and get all of them aligned
• Build lightweight processes, frameworks, and playbooks that help the team scale
• Be a thought partner on product, hiring, and company strategy
• Bring structure and momentum to ambiguous projects or undefined roles