Business Operations Associate

Phasic; Baltimore (MD); On-site; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity eligible

Early-stage exposure

Job summary

Phasic in the Baltimore area is seeking a generalist operations leader to keep the business running while the product team builds heat exchangers for AI data centers. You will own contracts, HR, payroll, finance operations, logistics, and the analysis that informs decisions.

This early-stage role offers hands-on ownership over processes, quick impact, and equity. You will document playbooks, coordinate with outside counsel and vendors, and ensure compliance as the company scales from a

Qualifications

• MBA or 2+ years in finance, operations, or consulting in a startup environment.
• Built a financial model or analysis used to make a real decision.
• Owned messy, multi-party work through to completion without a predefined process.
• Contracts, filings, and numbers left correct at the end of the day.
• Able to do unglamorous work like scheduling and chasing signatures.
• Must maintain discretion around compensation, contracts, and financials.

Responsibilities

• Own contract and legal operations: track agreements, NDAs, renewals, and coordinate with outside counsel.
• Run people operations: offers, onboarding, payroll, benefits, compliance filings, and handbook maintenance.
• Run finance operations: vendor invoices, payments, expense tracking, and month-end support.
• Build models and analyses behind decisions: unit costs, hiring plans, vendor comparisons, board materials.
• Coordinate logistics: shipping, travel, trade shows, customer visits.
• Keep records orderly: data room, cap table, insurance, document system.
• Document processes so the next hire inherits a playbook.

Skills

Financial modeling

Process ownership

Contract management

Data analysis

Education

MBA or 2+ years startup finance/ops/consulting

Tools

Payroll software

Cap table software

Accounting software

Job description

About Phasic

Phasic is building the next generation of heat exchangers for AI data centers, replacing century-old cooling technology that has become a bottleneck for modern chips. We combine an AI-driven design platform that generates custom heat exchanger designs in hours with advanced additive manufacturing, producing hardware that moves more heat in a smaller, more reliable package. We are already shipping units and working with major OEMs across the data center cooling ecosystem.

The Role

You will keep the business side of Phasic running so the people building the product can stay focused on it. You will own the operational backbone of a company of under ten people: contracts and legal paperwork, people operations and benefits, finance operations, logistics, and the analysis that goes into decisions. Today that work sits with the VP of Operations and a set of outside firms, and it is starting to slow the company down. Reporting to the VP of Operations, you will work with everyone: the CEO, engineering, outside counsel, our payroll and benefits providers, vendors, and customers. In your first 6 to 12 months, success looks like this: routine work runs without anyone chasing it, every open contract, filing, and renewal has an owner and a date, and leadership relies on your numbers.

What You’ll Do

• Own contract and legal operations. Track every agreement, NDA, and renewal, prepare first drafts from our templates, and coordinate review with outside counsel so nothing sits unsigned.
• Run people operations. Offers and onboarding, payroll and benefits administration, state compliance filings, and the employee handbook, working with our HR and payroll partners.
• Run finance operations. Vendor invoices and payments, expense tracking, budget-versus-actual reporting, and what our accountants need at month end.
• Build the models and analyses behind decisions. Unit costs, hiring plans, vendor comparisons, and materials for board meetings and investor conversations.
• Coordinate logistics. Shipping and customs paperwork, travel, trade shows, and customer visits.
• Keep the company’s records in order. The data room, cap table administration, insurance, and the document system everyone else relies on.
• Write down how things work. Document every process you run, so the next hire inherits a playbook instead of a mystery.

What You Bring

Required

• A recent MBA, or 2+ years in finance, operations, or consulting in a startup environment.
• You have built a financial model or analysis that someone used to make a real decision.
• You have owned messy, multi-party work through to completion without a process handed to you.
• Contracts, filings, and numbers leave your hands correct.
• You do the unglamorous work well. Scheduling, filing, chasing signatures, and paperwork are part of the job, and you treat them that way.
• Discretion. You will see compensation, contracts, and financials.

Nice to Have

• Exposure to contracts, employment law, or legal operations.
• Experience with startup finance and HR tools such as payroll, cap table, and accounting software.
• Familiarity with hardware, manufacturing, or supply chain.
• Prior experience at a startup or small company.
• Experience with import and export paperwork or logistics.

Location and Travel

Ideally you will be located in the Baltimore/Washington DC area. We are building out our offices near BWI.

Why This Role is Different

This is a generalist seat at the center of an early company. You will not set strategy or speak for leadership. You will sit close enough to see how decisions get made, why, and what it takes to carry them out, from a contract negotiation to a hiring decision to a board meeting. Few roles at this stage of a career offer that view.

The honest version: some of this work is unglamorous, and all of it matters. Your scope grows as you prove you can carry it. For someone early in their career who wants to learn how a company is actually built, this is the role.

Why Phasic

• Join as a single-digit hire at a seed-stage company and own real outcomes from day one.
• Get meaningful early-stage equity and the chance to build value over years, not quarters.
• Work on a hard, high-leverage problem at the intersection of physics, manufacturing, and AI infrastructure.