Business Operations Lead

Polymer; San Leandro (CA); On-site; USD 90,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Mission-driven team

Growth opportunities

Impactful work

Job summary

PHNX Materials, a U.S.-based solid-stage materials company, is seeking a Business Operations professional to scale commercial and back-office functions. You will work closely with leadership to advance fundraising, partnerships, and the processes that convert outreach into early sales.

The ideal candidate has experience in investment banking, consulting, or startup operations, combining rigorous analysis with execution across financial models, customer materials, and day-to-day work.

Qualifications

• Experience in investment banking, consulting, or building business and back-office functions.
• Strong analytical skills with ability to model scenarios and evaluate commercial tradeoffs.
• Clear writing and presentation skills for investor and customer materials.

Responsibilities

• Support fundraising with investor presentations, forecasts, and growth scenarios.
• Manage customer and site outreach workflows and track next steps.
• Support structure and iteration of offtake agreements and NDAs.
• Create customer presentations, product one-pagers, and proposals.
• Coordinate sales readiness across licensing, labeling, and product qualification.
• Support onboarding of early customers and capture feedback for planning.
• Build business processes, trackers, and reporting for prioritization.
• Provide procurement diligence support and vendor term comparisons.

Skills

Investment banking

Consulting

Business operations

Startup experience

Analytical skills

Project management

Financial modeling

Proposal writing

Diligence coordination

Cross-functional collaboration

Tools

AI tools

Job description

About PHNX Materials:

China controls 98% of the world's gallium, 92% of germanium, and 93% of silicon. In 2024, China weaponized export restrictions on gallium and germanium, putting the vulnerability on full display. Each of these metals is a byproduct of heavy industry that no longer exists in the United States. We cannot reshore the supply chain because the underlying industries are gone.

PHNX is the Department of Energy's and Department of War's answer to closing that gap. We are a \"solids refinery\" turning industrial waste into three product streams: critical metals for semiconductors and defense, cement replacement material for construction, and fertilizer for agriculture.

Our platform delivers a triple win: securing domestic critical mineral supply chains, helping power producers retire coal ash liabilities, and giving concrete producers a cheaper, lower-carbon alternative to cement. We support coal communities and remediate groundwater. PHNX was founded by Stanford, Tesla, and national lab alumni, backed by Trust Ventures, Overture, and KdT, and sponsored by the U.S. Department of War and the U.S. Department of Energy.

The Role:

We are seeking a Business Operations professional to help PHNX scale its commercial and business functions. Working closely with company leadership and technical teams, you will support fundraising, advance customer and site partnerships, and build the processes that turn outreach into agreements and early sales.

The ideal candidate brings experience in investment banking, consulting, business operations, or building business and back-office functions at a startup. You combine analytical rigor with strong follow-through and are comfortable moving between financial models, customer materials, and day-to-day execution.

What You Will Own:

• Support fundraising with investor presentations, financial forecasts, and growth scenarios that connect commercial opportunities, site expansion, and capital needs. Keep supporting materials and diligence responses current.




• Manage customer and site outreach workflows: track prospects, owners, next steps, and deadlines; coordinate internal input; and identify bottlenecks as outreach expands.




• Support the structure and iteration of offtake agreements, NDAs, and other commercial documents. Analyze terms and economics, track revisions, and coordinate review with leadership and legal counsel.




• Create and maintain customer presentations, product one-pagers, proposals, and other collateral, translating technical input into clear materials for investors, customers, and partners.




• Coordinate sales readiness across licensing, labeling, product qualification, and customer documentation, working with technical teams and relevant specialists to keep requirements and milestones on track.




• Support early customers from initial evaluation through onboarding. Coordinate samples, testing, questions, and follow-up, and bring customer feedback into commercial and technical planning.




• Build practical business processes, trackers, and reporting that help the team prioritize opportunities, surface risks, and follow through on commitments as the company grows.




• Provide targeted procurement diligence support for technical projects. Partner with the technical program manager and technical team to obtain quotes early, compare suppliers and commercial terms, and flag cost or delivery risks.

Who you Are:

• Experience in investment banking, consulting, business operations, or building business and back-office functions at a startup.




• Strong analytical skills, including financial modeling, scenario planning, and evaluating commercial tradeoffs with incomplete information.




• Clear writing and presentation skills, with the ability to turn technical and financial information into compelling, accurate materials.




• Excellent organization and follow-through across multiple workstreams, external relationships, and changing priorities.




• Comfort working with contracts, commercial terms, and diligence materials; experience with offtake agreements or industrial customers is a plus.




• A hands-on approach to building simple, repeatable processes and taking ownership of unfamiliar problems in a startup environment.




• Comfort using AI tools to streamline workflows, analysis, and content creation, while checking assumptions and accuracy.




• Curiosity about industrial technology and PHNX's mission.

What We Offer:

• Opportunity to build the business functions that bring a new industrial technology to market and tackle major environmental challenges.




• Dynamic startup environment with mission-driven team and room for growth.




• The chance to revolutionize heavy industries.

Note: We are unable to sponsor non-U.S. citizens at this time. We welcome