Business Operations Lead

PHNX Materials • San Leandro, CA

5d • $120,000 - $150,000

About The Position

PHNX Materials is a startup focused on creating a 'solids refinery' to convert industrial waste into valuable product streams: critical metals for semiconductors and defense, cement replacement material for construction, and fertilizer for agriculture. Our platform aims to secure domestic critical mineral supply chains, help power producers retire coal ash liabilities, and provide a cheaper, lower-carbon alternative to cement for concrete producers. We support coal communities and remediate groundwater. PHNX was founded by alumni from Stanford, Tesla, and national labs, with backing from prominent investors and sponsorship from the U.S. Department of War and the U.S. Department of Energy.

Requirements

• 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.
• 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.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with offtake agreements or industrial customers is a plus.
• Curiosity about industrial technology and PHNX's mission.

Responsibilities

• 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.

Benefits

• 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.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level
• Education Level: No Education Listed