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, primarily coal ash and zinc slag, 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. 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. PHNX is moving from pilot to commercial scale, and we are hiring our first Chief of Staff.
This is the first business hire at PHNX. You will be the CEO's right hand, embedded with engineers, operators, and partners as we move from pilot to commercial production. The core of the job is operations: project-managing commercial deployments, coordinating across engineering and field teams, and turning customer commitments into daily execution. You will also build the operating cadence of the company and own a portion of our external documentation.
You will own outcomes and ship work that directly determines whether PHNX hits its commercial milestones.
Execution and Operational excellence (primary). Project-manage pilots and first small commercial deployment playbooks end to end. Translate signed contracts into site plans, schedules, and weekly priorities. Coordinate across PHNX engineering, field ops, EPC partners, and customer counterparts. Run site readiness, logistics, and deployment planning. Identify operational issues in real time and drive them to resolution. Find and execute cost-down measures across the operating model.
Company Operating System. Set agendas on weekly team meetings. Build the lightweight processes and tools the company needs to scale without bureaucracy. Drive continuous improvement of how PHNX operates as we grow.
External Documentation and Communications. Work with CEO to build investor and executive presentations. Maintain the market model. Draft customer-facing documents, grant narratives, and partner updates. Be a credible PHNX voice in partnership with utility counterparts, DOE program managers, and investors.
GTM Feedback Loop. Bridge between sales and engineering. Bring execution learnings back into how PHNX prices, scopes, and sells the next project.
Engineering undergraduate degree, required. Mechanical, chemical, electrical, materials, or related. You should be able to read a process flow diagram, sanity-check a techno-economic model, and hold your own with our engineers and field operators.
Former MBB consultant, top-tier investment banker, or operator at an early-stage hard-tech, energy, or industrials company.
High-output track record. We are not impressed by pedigree alone, but we do expect evidence of sustained excellence.
Comfortable doing the unglamorous work: chasing down a vendor quote, fixing a broken spreadsheet, rewriting a customer email at 11pm, then presenting to the board the next morning.
Direct communicator. You write clearly, push back when something is wrong, and do not hide behind hedges or buzzwords.
Excited to be on-site at customer facilities and at our pilot, in person with the team.
A seat directly next to the CEO at a company building the domestic supply chain for critical minerals and a cleaner cement industry.
Real execution and company-building, with hands on operations and scaling a hard tech company.
Competitive cash and meaningful equity.
A team that ships, holds a high bar, and treats this work as the most important thing we will ever do.
Note: We can only hire U.S. nationals due to obligations around our funding.
PHNX Materials is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, color, religion, disability, protected Veteran status, age, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws.
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