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If you apply through LinkedIn you will be rejected automatically. Hopefully you are one of the people who can follow the simplest of instructions as your first test.
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.
Cooled Motors is backed by Tier 1 global VC investors and is an award-winning UK deep-tech company developing next-generation magnetless electric motors and sub-systems for automotive, aerospace, defence and industrial applications. Our proprietary magnetless motor topology is designed to remove rare-earth magnets while matching the performance of magnet motors at a fraction of the cost.
Cooled Motors is building a multidisciplinary team of engineers and operators with experience across electric machines, power electronics, thermal systems, automotive, aerospace and advanced manufacturing.
The opportunity
You will work directly with the CEO and co-founders to turn Cooled Motors’ highest-priority commercial and company-building work into results. You will take loosely defined problems, create structure, identify the next actions and drive them through to completion.
The work will change as the company develops. In one week, you may prepare an investor meeting and strengthen the data room; in another, you may build a market analysis for an automotive customer, coordinate a grant milestone or improve an internal process. The role centres on research, analysis, communication and end-to-end execution. It also includes the practical coordination and administrative work needed to keep a small, fast-moving company effective.
For someone serious about entrepreneurship, this role offers a steeper and more practical learning curve than most incubator or accelerator programmes. You will work alongside highly experienced serial entrepreneurs and founders on a real venture, with real technology, investors, customers, capital and deadlines. You will see how difficult decisions are made and will be expected to contribute to them.
This is a demanding role with real accountability, not a classroom or training programme. You will receive direct access, context and candid feedback, but you must be able to learn quickly, operate with incomplete information, recover from mistakes and keep pace with the founders. The standards and intensity will be high.
FOUNDER-TRACK OPPORTUNITY This role is designed for someone who intends to start a hardware or deep-tech company within the next few years, or who wants to grow with Cooled Motors and earn a senior role as the company scales.
What you will ownFounder priorities and strategic execution
· Turn founder priorities into clear workplans, owners, deadlines and measurable outcomes.
· Lead high-priority projects from initial question through research, recommendation, execution and follow-up.
· Prepare concise decision memos, presentations, meeting briefs, financial analyses and market assessments.
· Maintain a reliable action-tracking and reporting cadence so important commitments do not get lost between meetings.
· Use sound judgement to distinguish what needs founder input from what you can resolve independently.
Fundraising and investor relations
· Research, qualify and prioritise venture capital, family office, strategic and public-funding prospects against Cooled Motors’ stage, sector and round requirements.
· Maintain the investor pipeline and CRM, prepare tailored briefing notes and coordinate disciplined follow-up.
· Support the pitch deck, financial model, investor updates, data room and due-diligence responses, working with the founders and external advisers.
· Track fundraise metrics, investor feedback, objections and next steps, turning patterns into recommendations.
· Help communicate technical progress in clear commercial language without overstating evidence or making unapproved claims.
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 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.
· The research, writing and coordination skills needed to make a material contribution to grant applications, investor materials and commercial proposals.
Useful
· 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.
