About StepRanger
StepRanger is the creator of the original electric micro-truck. Founded by Montana-raised friends and entrepreneurs Aaron Jones and John Harrington, StepRanger blends rugged utility with thoughtful industrial design to build agile, battery-powered vehicles that solve everyday hauling challenges. Whether managing a property, running a jobsite, or tending a farm, our trucks make moving up to a half-ton of heavy cargo easier, cleaner, and more productive. As a fast-growing, founder-led company, we pride ourselves on reliable engineering, practical innovation, and personal relationships with the people who rely on our machines every day.
About the Role
As the Founder Operations Associate, you will work directly alongside Co-Founder John Harrington as his operational right hand. This role is designed as an operational masterclass and high-trust startup apprenticeship, offering front-row exposure to every facet of building an early-stage electric vehicle brand.
This position is not about how many years you have spent sitting in a corporate office—it is about your curiosity, work ethic, versatility, and capacity to learn quickly. We are looking for someone who pairs sharp attention to detail with sound judgment. We are not looking for a straight task manager; we use AI agents and modern automation for that. We need a proactive problem solver who navigates startup ambiguity with poise, leads with humility, and treats our customers like partners.
Core Values & Mindset We Value:
- Lead with Humility & Curiosity: You ask thoughtful questions, seek root causes, and view unfamiliar challenges as opportunities to learn.
- Act Like an Owner: You connect daily execution to long-term business goals, catching the small details before they become big issues and anticipating future needs.
- Customer-First Instincts: You listen actively, communicate with empathy, and take genuine pride in solving problems for the people who rely on our products.
- High Learning Agility & Adaptability: You thrive in dynamic environments where priorities evolve, and you enjoy pivoting from high-level planning to hands-on execution.
Key Responsibilities
- Customer Frontline & Brand Ambassadorship: Shadow John to absorb the StepRanger voice and product architecture, progressively taking full ownership of incoming customer inquiries across phone, email, and in-person interactions. Exercise sound judgment on when to resolve issues independently and when to escalate to leadership.
- Operational Execution & Process Design: Identify operational friction points—from chasing down vendor updates to forecasting inventory needs—and help build lightweight, repeatable processes that set the company up to scale smoothly.
- AI-Augmented Daily Operations: Leverage modern AI tools, prompt workflows, and automated agents to multiply your output across documentation, scheduling, customer communications, and workflow tracking.
- Founder Support: Provide proactive day-to-day leverage for leadership, managing critical correspondence, prioritizing calendars, and keeping priority initiatives moving forward.
- Hands-On Logistics: Package accessories, prepare shipping labels, coordinate freight drop-offs, and occasionally roll up your sleeves to assist with unboxing, light assembly, or prepping vehicles for customers.
Minimum Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree or an equivalent combination of practical experience, training, and self-directed education.
- Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to represent the StepRanger brand with warmth, professionalism, and clarity.
- High digital literacy and natural enthusiasm for adopting modern productivity tools, software, and AI-driven workflows.
- Strong organizational instincts and high agency: you follow through on commitments without prompting and proactively propose structured solutions when context is missing.
- A pragmatic, "no task is too small" attitude—equally energized whether coordinating a schedule, resolving a customer inquiry, packaging parts, or helping prep a micro-truck.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience in a customer-facing or high-touch service environment (such as hospitality, customer support, retail, or fast-paced internships).
- Direct, hands-on familiarity with AI tools (e.g. Claude, custom agents, or workflow automations) to accelerate daily work.
- Basic comfort or curiosity around mechanical tinkering, hardware troubleshooting, or assembling physical products.
Encouragement to Apply
At StepRanger, we value curiosity, grit, and growth potential far more than checking every conventional box on a resume. If you are an ambitious self-starter eager to learn how a modern hardware company is built from the ground up, we strongly encourage you to apply—even if you do not meet every single preferred qualification listed above.
Pay: From $60,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- 401(k) matching
- Health insurance
- Paid time off
Work Location: Hybrid remote in Missoula, MT 59801
