Front Desk Receptionist

Y Combinator is the leading startup accelerator for entrepreneurs. Since 2005, YC has invested in over 6,000 companies, including Airbnb, Dropbox, OpenAI, Stripe, Reddit, DoorDash, Coinbase, and Instacart. Today, YC has built the most powerful startup community in the world and is committed to supporting founders for the life of their company.

Job Description

Y Combinator is looking for a Receptionist to be the first point of contact for founders, guests, and employees at our Dogpatch, San Francisco offices. You’ll help create a welcoming experience and answer general inquiries with warmth and professionalism, and direct visitors to where they need to go for meetings and events. You will use internal YC software to manage communication across various teams, including our on-site security personnel. This is a hands-on role for someone who enjoys helping people, notices the details, and stays calm when several things need attention at once.

This is a full-time, on-site position Monday through Friday at our Dogpatch offices in San Francisco. This is an active role. The receptionist should be prepared to stand and walk for much of the workday while welcoming visitors and supporting our daily office operations.

Key Responsibilities:

• Welcome founders and visitors, manage check-ins, verify appointments, and direct guests to where they need to go.

• Respond to general inquiries with warmth and professionalism.

• Coordinate deliveries, mail, and incoming and outgoing packages.

• Keep the reception area and shared spaces tidy, stocked, and ready for guests.

• Coordinate with vendors, cleaning crews, and our Workplace Team as needed.

• Maintain familiarity with emergency and evacuation procedures.

• Stay alert to activity at the front desk and entrances, follow visitor and security procedures, and promptly notify the security team of any concerns or unusual activity.

• Work cross-functionally with teams across YC, including our on-site security personnel.

Skills & Experience:

• Experience in reception, hospitality, office coordination, or another service-focused role.

• Clear, friendly communication and strong organizational skills.

• Good judgment and the ability to prioritize in a busy environment.

• Reliability, attention to detail, and a willingness to pitch in wherever needed.

• Comfort using common workplace tools, including email, calendars, and spreadsheets.

• Friendly demeanor.

• Familiar with startups (a big plus).

Every employee at YC has a lot of individual responsibility and access to sensitive information, so we need to hire people we can trust. Your ability to make good trade-offs and exercise good judgment is particularly important to us.

Location:

YC is headquartered in San Francisco, and candidates must reside in the San Francisco Bay Area. This is a full-time, on-site position Monday through Friday at our Dogpatch offices in San Francisco. Additional in-person availability may be needed for afternoon and evening events, and the occasional weekend.

Compensation: $50/hour (non-exempt, hourly position, overtime eligible)

Benefits: Our full benefits package includes medical, vision, and dental plans, infertility benefit, STD/LTD, life insurance, commuter benefits, flexible spending account, health savings account, 401(k) + 4% matching, generous parental leave, paid holidays, and flexible paid time off policy.

Work Authorization: This position does not support work authorization/visa sponsorship.

Y Combinator considers qualified applicants with criminal histories, consistent with applicable federal, state, and local law, including San Francisco’s Fair Chance Ordinance. Y Combinator is committed to protecting the privacy of the personal information of job applicants and complying with the California Consumer Privacy Act. The privacy policy of Ashby, Inc., the hiring platform used by Y Combinator, governs the collection of such data and can be found here.