Founders Associate Intern

Join Ark at an exciting stage and learn first-hand how a startup is built. Ark builds platforms for public administrations. We entered the market about a year ago with our best-known tool, a platform for local climate action, and now work with more than 60 cities, counties and states, from Schleswig-Holstein, Munich and Berlin to small rural municipalities. We have won the German Startup Award 2026, raised €2.4 million in pre-seed and grant funding and are approaching €1 million in annual revenue. As our Founders Associate Intern (all genders), you work side by side with our Chief of Staff Lennart, who is your day-to-day lead, and team up with our founder & CEO Ruth on selected projects. Your week has two halves. In the mornings you are part of our growth team and help win new public administrations as customers. This is the core of the role. In the afternoons you work with Lennart on whatever matters most for the company at that moment, from strategy and finance to HR and company initiatives. You will see from the inside how a fast-growing GovTech startup wins customers, makes decisions and builds its team. If you are thinking about founding your own company one day, there are few better places to learn. Tasks Joining Ark as a Founders Associate Intern means a new mix of topics every week. Here is a range of potential challenges: • Growth: Spend your mornings with our sales team. Research and reach out to municipalities, qualify leads, book meetings and prepare customer conversations. You learn how public sector sales work and see your impact in our pipeline every week. You'll receive a bonus for each qualified demo booked. • Strategy: Work with Lennart on strategic questions, prepare analyses and decision papers for management and turn decisions into concrete next steps. • Company Initiatives: Take full ownership of projects that move Ark forward, from preparing and hosting webinars for municipalities to legal and administrative topics a growing company has to get right. • People & HR: Support our recruiting from job posting to interview, help onboard new team members and contribute to initiatives that shape our team culture. • Finance: Help with financial planning, budgeting and reporting, for example when preparing updates for our investors. Requirements We are looking for people who enjoy switching between very different topics and want real responsibility from day one. Here is what makes you the right fit: First Experience: Ideally first internships in a fast growing startup, consulting, VC or ops role. How quickly you learn matters more to us than your CV. Drive in Sales: You enjoy talking to people, are not afraid of the phone and want to learn how to win customers. Half of your time is growth work, so this should excite you rather than be something you accept. Structured Way of Working: You keep track of several topics at once and deliver reliably, even when priorities change during the day. Analytical Mindset: You are comfortable with numbers and spreadsheets and can turn complex information into a clear recommendation. Communication Skills: Strong written and verbal communication to engage with municipalities, partners and our team. Entrepreneurial Spirit: You thrive in a fast-paced startup setting and see limited resources as a chance to innovate. You are hands-on, proactive and a natural problem-solver. Language: Excellent German and English skills. Admin: • Time commitment: Internship, 6 months • Start date: asap • Location: Munich or Berlin, in office 🤗 We know that perfect candidates don’t exist and we don’t have specific “minimum qualifications”. Curiosity, eagerness to learn, a passion to tackle climate change, a collaborative spirit and a growth mindset are most important to us. Benefits 💸 Competitiv