Sponic Gardens HR / candidate offer brief
Mariia botanicals
Compensation and role framing for a recent biology graduate managing the Warsaw vibe-growing botanical pilot on a three-month, half-time basis.
Compensation recommendation
Offer Mariia 5,000 PLN gross per month, approximately $1,390 USD, for a true half-time role. This is intentionally above a basic part-time minimum-wage benchmark because the work combines project coordination, biological judgment, local sourcing, participant care, and the practical ownership of a fuzzy prototype.
Assuming 20 hours per week, the recommended package implies about 58 PLN/hour, approximately $16/hour USD. The lean version is about 52 PLN/hour, or $14/hour, while the strong version is about 63 PLN/hour, or $18/hour.
| Package | Use when | Monthly gross | Hourly gross |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lean | Budget is tight and responsibilities are mostly execution. | 4,500 PLN ~$1,250 USD |
~52 PLN/hr ~$14/hr USD |
| Recommended | She owns the pilot rhythm and produces a documented operating plan. | 5,000 PLN ~$1,390 USD |
~58 PLN/hr ~$16/hr USD |
| Strong | She is unusually proactive, bilingual, and can recruit or host participants. | 5,500 PLN ~$1,530 USD |
~63 PLN/hr ~$18/hr USD |
Equity treatment
Since Sponic is not yet in its final corporate structure with issued shares, word this as a committed future-equity promise: when Sponic converts into a share-issuing company or otherwise creates an employee/advisor equity plan, Mariia will be granted equity or economically equivalent options representing the promised percentage, subject to the vesting schedule below.
Keep the promise meaningful but bounded. Because the initial commitment is only three months and she may leave for graduate school, this should not be treated like founder equity or a core executive grant.
- Default: a committed promise of future equity equal to 0.5%, vesting monthly over 24 months.
- During the three-month trial, 0.0625% would vest.
- The promise should convert into shares, options, or a substantially equivalent instrument once the company has the right legal structure.
- Stronger version: 1.0% over 24 months if she becomes a clear program lead.
Role scope
The role should be framed as Botanical Pilot Coordinator, not as a general intern. The title should signal ownership of the first vibe-growing pilot while keeping expectations bounded.
- Translate the botanical ideation page into one concrete Warsaw pilot.
- Choose species and care protocols for microgreens, flowers, herbs, or terrarium plants.
- Build the equipment shopping list with prices, suppliers, substitutes, and risks.
- Set up the grow zone and maintain the care cadence with photos and notes.
- Work with Sponic software prompts, logs, image timelines, and participant updates.
- Write a short post-pilot memo on what worked, what failed, and what to test next.
Job description
Title: Botanical Pilot Coordinator. This is a three-month, half-time startup role for someone who can combine plant biology, practical operations, careful documentation, and a willingness to help wherever the project needs momentum.
The core mission is to turn Sponic's vibe-growing idea into a real Warsaw pilot: a small, beautiful, measured grow experience that members can follow, photograph, discuss, taste, compare, or care for. The work sits between horticulture, hospitality, product research, and project management.
- Own the daily rhythm of the botanical pilot: setup, watering, light checks, care notes, photos, and issue tracking.
- Research and recommend species, substrates, containers, grow lights, sensors, and suppliers available in Warsaw or Poland.
- Help design participant experiences such as micro-harvests, flower duels, personal tea gardens, terrariums, and plant recovery quests.
- Document protocols clearly enough that another operator could repeat the grow without starting from scratch.
- Coordinate with software work: prompts, AI grow-coach behavior, photo timelines, care logs, telemetry fields, and participant updates.
- Notice practical problems early: pests, mold, overwatering, missing supplies, unclear instructions, participant confusion, or safety concerns.
- Pitch in on adjacent startup needs when useful, including sourcing, errands, vendor calls, events, member interviews, writing, setup, cleanup, testing, and operational checklists.
Success after three months means Sponic has at least one documented botanical pilot that actually ran, with photos, care data, participant feedback, a shopping list, a repeatable protocol, and a concrete recommendation for what to build next.
Suggested verbal offer
"We would like to bring you on for a three-month half-time botanical pilot role in Warsaw. The cash offer is 5,000 PLN gross per month, about $1,390 USD. We can also make a written commitment that, once Sponic converts into a corporate structure with shares or an equity plan, you will receive future equity or economically equivalent options equal to 0.5%, vesting over 24 months. If the project continues and you stay involved, the upside grows with the relationship."
Context and benchmarks
Poland's 2026 statutory minimum wage is 4,806 PLN gross per month full-time, about $1,335 USD, and the minimum hourly rate for covered service contracts is 31.40 PLN gross, about $8.70 USD. A half-time minimum benchmark is therefore materially lower than this offer, but the Sponic role asks for more judgment and ownership than ordinary entry-level hourly work.
Warsaw entry-level professional ranges are commonly closer to 5,500-7,500 PLN gross per month full-time, while project coordination benchmarks can run higher with experience. For this three-month, half-time, recent-graduate role, 5,000 PLN gross per month, about $1,390 USD, lands in the right zone: serious enough to respect the work, bounded enough for a pilot.
USD figures are approximate planning conversions using 3.6 PLN per 1 USD. Final payroll should be denominated in PLN unless a local advisor recommends otherwise.
References: Poland 2026 minimum wage, Poland minimum hourly rate, Warsaw project coordinator benchmark.