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Founder’s Engineer
About us
Praxis Engineering is a boutique consultancy and project developer designed to guide important technologies through the valley of death. We work with founders, investors, corporates, and funds to de-risk technology scale-up from the inside. We help impact ventures navigate the ambiguity and manage the risk of taking frontier technologies from the lab into the real world. We offer full stack scale-up support, starting with disciplined engineering and layering in whatever is required to help the founders take their next step in the right direction.
About the role
Think “Owner’s Engineer” but reimagined for the challenges of scaling venture-backed technology.
Venture-backed founders are constantly juggling risk. At Praxis, we work to deliverable-based scopes, deliberately taking on execution risk to lighten the load on the founders, making sure that all fees paid directly move the needle. You will work directly alongside founders, own the relationships, and be responsible for deliverable scoping and execution.
In deeptech, plans are often out of date the day that they are made. Change is constant and as such our work is continually in flux. You will be responsible for making sure the deliverables produced are fit for purpose throughout the engagement and the founders and internal teams are set up for success when engagements end.
You will likely be working on the most important and urgent problems for the startup, delivering key outputs to tight deadlines often during high-stress phases. Between the documents, you will support the founders as a seasoned voice in the room, helping them manage change and make decisions to move the company forward as fast as possible.
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You will also establish and manage important interfaces with key stakeholders including equipment vendors, Praxis Network Partners, investors, and the startup’s own board & other advisors.
Praxis is a London-based organisation working with a global client portfolio. Customer site visits and on-site presence are likely required during engagements as the work demands.
Requirements
- Minimum 3 years / 2 funding cycles working in venture-backed deeptech startups.
- Experience managing multiple interfaces across different projects and a range of technologies.
- Experience and working knowledge of the scale-up process, including typical documentation, processes, and standards companies and technologies need to follow to reach full market adoption.
- Strong commercial acumen and the ability to act as a conduit, translating fluently back and forth between internal and external technical and commercial teams.
- Experience designing, deploying, commissioning, troubleshooting, or operating new-to-world hardware on live customer sites.
Ideally, you’ll also have:
- Professional accreditation from a relevant engineering or technical body and the ability to sign off critical engineering documentation.
- Experience building and leading multidisciplinary teams designing, delivering, or deploying frontier technologies.
- Deep subject matter expertise in a key engineering discipline (process, mechanical, EC&I, systems, etc.), with ability to interface with other disciplines where required.
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What we offer
- Initially contracting outside IR35 at competitive day rates, with options to join full-time as the business develops.
- A high-growth, high-trust environment where team members are empowered to take ownership and shape how we deliver our services to ensure ideal client outcomes.
Praxis values diverse backgrounds and experiences and is committed to equal employment opportunities. Please let us know if you need any adjustments during the recruitment process.
Application Process
Three core qualities define this role: Leverage, Learning, and Change.
If interested, please submit your CV to trishan@praxis-engineering.co.uk alongside short (4-5 line) answers to the following questions:
- What is the highest leverage you have exercised in your work? Where have you made an outsized impact compared to the effort applied? How did this move the needle?
- What was your biggest (or most painful) learning experience through the scale-up & commercialisation process? What would you do differently with hindsight?
- What is the most amount of organisational or technical change you have facilitated? What did you do to manage the change effectively without slowing down the programme?
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