Co-Founder Psychology

Company Overview

Joyful is a digital platform dedicated to self-regulation with a focus on burnout prevention and facilitating the application of therapy techniques into daily life. Our vision is to create a world where mental and emotional support is readily accessible to all, enabling individuals to better understand their emotional needs, thereby reducing unresolved pain and associated negative behaviors.

Job Purpose

We seek a co-founder specializing in psychology to join us as we pursue EXIST funding to support our venture. This role is integral to further developing our app, which helps users cultivate a healthy relationship with themselves through emotional awareness and simple, consistent practice.

Key Responsibilities

• Take ownership of the core psychological framework, including mapping emotions to needs, selecting micro-interventions, implementing schema modes in daily reviews, and shaping the app's language style.
• Create and maintain content such as the intervention library, psychoeducational materials, and user-facing microcopy, ensuring communication is warm, concise, and free from clinical jargon.
• Define the boundaries of our application’s scope, explicitly avoiding diagnostics and crisis intervention within the app while providing clear pathways to professional help; uphold the stance that has led to rejection of certain feature requests.
• Oversee and curate the phrasing generated by AI language models within the app, setting guidelines and approving content to ensure appropriateness.
• Incorporate evidence-based practices by refining the model of change, planning evaluations, and drafting expert sections of funding proposals and academic publications.
• Engage with healthcare professionals, clinics, therapists, and educational institutions to build pathways for future partnerships and integrations.

Required Qualifications

• Pursuing or holding a degree in psychology: master’s level preferred but bachelor’s degree also considered.
• Demonstrated meaningful involvement with behavioral therapy and schema therapy beyond introductory exposure, such as through advanced training, internships, research, or comprehensive study.
• Ability to translate complex psychological terminology into accessible language without loss of meaning; a crucial task for this role.
• Fluency in German at a native level, as the app content is primarily in German. Proficiency in English is required for engaging with academic literature.
• Proactive mindset with a preference for decision-making responsibility, coupled with openness to revising decisions based on user feedback.

Compensation and Benefits

• Equity ownership in the company, with the extent to be discussed candidly during personal conversations.
• Initial 12-month engagement funded through EXIST, which provides financial support depending on educational background: €2,500/month for Bachelor or Master degree holders, €1,000/month for students, and €3,000/month for PhD holders.
• Potential for extension beyond 12 months contingent on future funding phases, with transparent communication about status.
• Fully remote work setup with asynchronous collaboration as default; core working hours scheduled by agreement. While based in Wiesbaden, proximity is not obligatory.
• Access to the EXIST program’s network, academic linkages, and structured funding environment.
• Small, agile team structure facilitating rapid decision-making and short communication channels.