Founding Operations Associate (AI Native / Claude)
2 days ago
Long Beach
About WoundHeroes WoundHeroes is an early-stage, pre-revenue healthcare startup based in Long Beach, California. The founding team has previously built, scaled, and successfully exited businesses in the healthcare sector, and partners with respected, board-certified physicians to deliver clinical care. We operate two clinical business lines under one company. The Founding Sales Associate works across both, learning two markets in parallel. Business Line 1: Advanced wound care. We deliver surgeon-supervised, bedside wound care to patients in skilled nursing facilities, hospices, home health agencies, and home settings across Southern California. Our clinical team includes board-certified physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants who travel to the patient. We focus on advanced chronic non-healing wounds, including diabetic foot ulcers, venous leg ulcers, pressure injuries, and non-healing surgical sites. The service includes vascular screening, advanced wound modalities, and biologic therapies when clinically indicated. The business sells into post-acute facility administrators and physicians who refer patients into our care. Business Line 2: Telehealth anti-parasitic preventative care. We operate a telehealth practice focused on screening, evaluation, and evidence-based treatment of parasitic conditions. Patients access the service through online intake, virtual consultations with licensed clinicians, and at-home diagnostic protocols. The business sells direct to consumers through digital channels. Two clinical disciplines. One operating standard. One company. About the Role The Founding Operations Associate is the first dedicated operations hire. The role is based in Long Beach and reports to the CEO. This person owns the back office of the entire company. When the Sales Associate books a meeting and that meeting turns into a referral or a customer, the Operations Associate makes sure the work actually happens. That means hiring clinicians, managing credentialing, handling customer communications, coordinating with billing partners, and keeping the operating machine running across both business lines. This is a founding role with one of the fastest career progression paths available in the workplace. The company runs a flat structure with direct daily access to executive leadership and the medical management team, not just the CEO. The person who succeeds here defines the operating playbook the next ten employees inherit. We are looking for someone who treats operations as an engineering problem. Every recurring task should be documented, automated where possible, and continuously improved. The Operations Associate is expected to leverage AI tools daily to compress the time it takes to do the work, and to build their own internal tooling when off-the-shelf solutions do not exist. Key Responsibilities The role spans the full back office of a healthcare startup. You will: • HR. Source, screen, and onboard nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and other clinical staff across both business lines. Manage the full pipeline from outreach to first patient visit., • Credentialing. Track and manage credentialing across multiple payer plans (Medicare, Medi-Cal managed care, commercial). Coordinate directly with our credentialing and billing partners. Maintain a real-time tracker showing the status of every clinician across every plan., • Customer and patient communications. Handle inbound communications from facilities, referring physicians, and patients. Triage urgent items. Ensure every message gets a timely, professional response., • Operational systems. Build and maintain the internal tools, dashboards, and trackers the company runs on. CRM hygiene, EMR coordination, scheduling logistics, document management., • Vendor and partner coordination. Work with billing partners, manufacturers, software vendors, and clinical partners. Keep contracts, renewals, and service-level expectations on track., • Compliance support. Help maintain the operating standards required for HIPAA, OIG, and state regulatory compliance. Document workflows, maintain audit trails, flag issues early., • Process documentation. Every recurring task gets a written SOP. The goal is that any new hire can be productive on day one because the operating manual already exists., • AI-leveraged automation. Use Claude and other frontier AI tools to compress the time spent on repetitive work. Build automation workflows where appropriate. Treat operations as a systems engineering problem. A Day in This Role • Morning: Triage overnight communications. Respond to urgent items from facilities, clinicians, patients, and vendors. Update credentialing and hiring trackers., • Late morning: Active operations work. Clinician onboarding calls, vendor coordination, payer plan submissions, customer communications., • Lunch., • Early afternoon: Build or improve internal systems. Document SOPs. Update dashboards. Build automation workflows., • Late afternoon: Sync with the CEO and clinical leadership on operational priorities. Plan tomorrow's work. Required Qualifications This role requires an engineering-grade mind that thinks in systems. We are looking for highly technical candidates who can build their own tooling, automate their own workflows, and treat operations as an engineering problem. • 0 to 3 years of professional work experience, • Bachelor's degree, or equivalent demonstrable expertise, in a quantitative field (computer science, engineering, mathematics, physics, statistics, or economics), • Demonstrated daily working proficiency with at least one frontier AI tool (Claude preferred, ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, or comparable). Candidates must be able to describe specific workflows they have built or improved using these tools., • Comfort with SQL, Python, basic scripting, or no-code automation platforms (Zapier, Make, n8n, or comparable), • Demonstrated proficiency with spreadsheets, project management tools, and data analysis, • Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to handle live phone and email communications with healthcare administrators, clinicians, and patients, • High attention to detail and the discipline to document everything, • Authorization to work in the United States without visa sponsorship -- Preferred Qualifications • Prior exposure to healthcare operations, clinical credentialing, or medical billing, • Experience hiring or coordinating contractors, freelancers, or clinical staff, • Experience using CRM, EMR, or healthcare-specific software platforms, • Familiarity with healthcare or other regulated industries Success in the First 90 Days • Day 30: Credentialing tracker built and live. SOPs documented for the top 5 recurring operational tasks. Active hiring pipeline for clinical staff across both business lines., • Day 60: Operational systems running smoothly. Customer and patient communications consistently handled within target response times. First clinical hire onboarded., • Day 90: Full operating cadence established. Internal tooling and automations in production. Documentation comprehensive enough that a new operations hire could be productive on day one. Compensation Starting base salary: $60,000 annually, paid as a W-2 employee from day one. Compensation is designed to grow substantially as the company scales. As WoundHeroes achieves defined performance milestones, base salary steps up through structured tiers, benefits expand, and equity participation becomes available to proven performers. Strong performers in this role have a clear path to total annual compensation in the range of $150,000 to $240,000 as the company reaches operational scale. The full progression schedule, including specific triggers and timing, is documented in the offer letter and discussed in detail with finalists. Benefits and Workplace At hire: • W-2 employment with full California labor law protections, • Workers' compensation coverage, • California-mandated paid sick leave from day one, • CalSavers retirement program enrollment, • Direct mentorship from the CEO and clinical leadership As the company grows: • Monthly health insurance reimbursement stipend (ICHRA), • Paid time off in addition to mandatory sick leave, • Expanded benefits package, • Equity discussions for proven performers Workplace: Long Beach high-end office, the most advanced Claude subscriptions (CoWork - Code - Design) and the best AI tools overall, five days per week, on-site. Direct reporting relationship with the CEO. Equal Employment Opportunity WoundHeroes is an equal opportunity employer. Employment decisions are made on the basis of qualifications, merit, and business need. WoundHeroes does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, or related medical conditions), national origin, ancestry, age, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law. Reasonable Accommodation WoundHeroes provides reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities throughout the application and employment process. Applicants who require accommodation should contact the hiring team directly. Fair Chance Act Notice Pursuant to the California Fair Chance Act, WoundHeroes will consider qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the law. A background check may be conducted following a conditional offer of employment. Pay Transparency The pay range reflects the starting base salary for the position, in compliance with California Labor Code Section 432.3. Benefits eligibility is described in the Compensation and Benefits sections. At-Will Employment Employment with WoundHeroes is at-will. Either the employee or the company may terminate the employment relationship at any time, with or without cause and with or without notice, subject to applicable law.