Commercial strategy and partnerships

• Research priority markets, customers, competitors and value chains across automotive, defence, aerospace and selected industrial applications.
• Build target-account maps and commercial cases for OEMs, Tier 1 suppliers and strategic partners, including customer value, adoption barriers and routes to market.
• Prepare customer and partner meetings, capture decisions and actions, and ensure timely follow-through.
• Support proposals, partnership materials, accelerator applications, trade shows and industry events.
• Keep commercial evidence organised: customer requirements, letters of support, pilot status, technical requests and next steps.

Grants, programmes and company operations

• Identify relevant grants, competitions and support programmes; coordinate inputs, deadlines and submissions.
• Support project reporting, milestone evidence, partner coordination and audit-ready record keeping for funded programmes.
• Build lightweight, scalable processes for recurring work such as KPIs, contact management, document control, onboarding and supplier evaluation.
• Support selected recruitment, onboarding, communications and company-development projects when they are a priority.
• Handle confidential commercial, investor, employee and intellectual-property information with care.

What success looks like

Within your first 90 days

• You understand Cooled Motors’ technologies, target markets, funding plan and current customer and investor pipeline well enough to prepare high-quality briefs independently.
• Investor, customer, grant and founder action trackers are accurate, current and trusted by the team.
• You have delivered at least one high-priority project end to end and introduced one process improvement that saves meaningful team time.

Within 6-12 months

• Important external relationships receive prompt, well-prepared and consistent follow-up.
• Fundraising and commercial decisions are supported by clear research, reliable data and concise recommendations.
• Funded-project milestones, applications and reporting inputs are coordinated with fewer last-minute gaps.
• The founders spend less time chasing information and actions, and more time on technology, customers, capital and strategic decisions.

What you will bring

• Strong, proven entrepreneurial spirit. You have built, launched, organised or sold something; created a project or venture from zero; or repeatedly found ways to make progress without a ready-made playbook.
• Evidence that you can take ownership and deliver high-quality work in a demanding environment. This may come from a startup, consultancy, investment team, corporate strategy role, research or engineering environment, student venture or another setting where you created scope and made things happen.
• Typically 3+ years of relevant experience; exceptional graduates with strong evidence of initiative and execution are also encouraged to apply.
• An outstanding first degree and exceptional academic record from a globally recognised university, or demonstrably equivalent academic achievement. We are looking for genuine intellectual depth, not simply credentials.
• Intellectual breadth and curiosity well beyond your principal discipline. You engage seriously with the wider world and can connect ideas across technology, business, economics, geopolitics, history, design, culture or other fields.
• Fluent spoken and written English. You can write clearly, persuasively and creatively for investors, customers, partners and the public, not only in scientific or academic language.
• The ability to understand complex engineering and scientific concepts and communicate them accurately to technical and non-technical audiences.
• Strong numerical and analytical ability. You are confident using spreadsheets and quantitative evidence to structure problems, test assumptions and build defensible conclusions.
• The ability to create exceptional presentations— logically structured, visually clear and persuasive, with the right level of technical depth for the audience.

Useful Extras

• Experience with deep tech, hardware, automotive, defence, aerospace, climate technology or advanced manufacturing.
• Exposure to venture fundraising, investor research, financial modelling, data rooms or due diligence.
• Experience with UK or European grants, innovation programmes or collaborative R&D projects.
• Experience with CRM, project-management or knowledge-management tools, and responsible use of AI productivity tools.
• Academic or professional exposure to engineering, science, economics, business, finance or another field that developed strong analytical and communication skills.
• Fluent written and spoken German and/or Italian.

What we offer

• The opportunity to learn company building directly from highly experienced serial entrepreneurs and founders.
• Real responsibility across strategy, fundraising, customers, grants, operations and technology commercialisation—not simulated accelerator exercises.
• A founder-track learning environment for someone preparing to start a hardware or deep-tech company.
• The opportunity to stay, expand your ownership and progress into a senior role as Cooled Motors scales, subject to performance and business needs.
• A competitive salary, employee share options and workplace pension.
• Flexible hybrid working, with regular time alongside the team in Sheffield.
• Professional development through hands-on work with investors, OEMs, engineering partners and leading innovation programmes.
• A mission-driven, multidisciplinary team working on a difficult and globally important industrial challenge.

How to apply and Application Process

Use the following link to apply. All other forms of applications will be rejected and blacklisted. https://forms.office.com/e/MAjSKHvnbF

Recruitment Steps:

• Application form – Shortlisting
• Video interview submission and initial task
• Initial Interview
• Case study
• Full interview
• Offer (may extend the process if borderline)

This is a key role for someone who will be a fundamental part of the company with potential opportunities to spin out or become a senior leader within the company.