Chief of Staff - Hardware Projects

CHIEF OF STAFF - HARDWARE PROJECTS

Location: Brussels or Paris - regular travel between the two expected Type: Full-time

ABOUT HEXA

Hexa https://www.hexa.com/ (formerly eFounders) gives entrepreneurs the best chances to build outstanding companies.

We are a pioneering, world-leading startup studio born in Europe that designs, builds and launches category-defining startups. We are today recognized as one of the best venture studios in the world, with a track record comparable to tier-1 VC funds.

We have created 60+ companies (including 3 unicorns) with a combined valuation of over $5 billion among them Aircall, Spendesk, Front, Swan and Yousign. We are passionate about B2B software, particularly AI-native and agentic SaaS, fintech, climate tech, defense tech and healthtech.

Hexa is in full growth mode, with three early-stage activities: our Ventures programs Hexa Start and Hexa Sprint which help entrepreneurs go from zero to one, and a PE program, Hexa Scale, which takes majority stakes in existing startups and pushes them to new thresholds.

A NEW HARDWARE VERTICAL AT HEXA

We've just welcomed Guerric https://www.linkedin.com/in/guerricdc/ as a new Partner at Hexa, and he's launching our hardware vertical. Guerric is an engineer with a PhD in aerospace engineering. He co-founded ScanWorld, a satellite imagery analytics company, before spending a few years in nuclear energy, where he played a key incubator role in launching companies across fission, fusion and defense.

Guerric is building and scaling hardware startups within the studio, starting with two projects already validated and entering a critical growth phase:

- An atmospheric water generation project: producing drinking water from ambient air.

- A satellite communications project: space telecommunications infrastructure.

Two projects, two markets, one thing in common: relatively long sales cycles, complex procurement processes, and a need to land the first customers and partners in highly specific industrial environments.

THE MISSION

We're looking for a Chief of Staff to support these two projects on their go-to-market and business development track. You'll be at the heart of building the commercial engine for these early-stage startups: identifying targets, structuring the commercial approach, making first contact, and developing strategic partnerships in sectors with long, complex sales cycles.

WHAT YOU'LL BE DOING

- Mapping the market: identifying the first target accounts, decision-makers, and buying committees in industrial sectors such as aerospace, energy, defense, and data centers.

- Building the go-to-market approach: structuring how each project reaches its first customers and partners, from outreach strategy to positioning.

- Prospecting hands-on: picking up the phone and cold-calling into specific B2B, industrial buying environments. This is not a delegated task, you'll be doing it yourself.

- Developing partnerships: engaging with industrial players, integrators, and institutional actors relevant to each project's ecosystem.

- Acting as a right hand to the founders: helping structure priorities, coordinate across the projects launched within the venture studio, and bring an operator's rigor to fast-moving, still-forming teams.

- Feeding learnings back into the projects: translating what you learn from the field (objections, buying criteria, procurement constraints) into sharper go-to-market decisions.

WHO WE'RE LOOKING FOR

- Solid experience in a hardware / industrial environment, with long sales cycles and complex procurement (e.g., aerospace, energy, defense, infrastructure, or adjacent sectors).

- A background that combines a large industrial company (e.g., Airbus, Siemens, Rheinmetall, EDF, Thalès) with startup experience. We're looking for someone who also has a real hands-on, scrappy startup layer.

- A genuine go-to-market / business development appetite: you're not afraid to cold-call into specific, technical B2B worlds.

- An existing network in industrial sectors like aerospace, energy, defense, or data centers is a strong plus.

- Deep knowledge of the sector and its purchasing dynamics matters more than the exact title of your previous role.

RECRUITMENT PROCESS

1. First call with Laure - introduction to Hexa and a check on cultural fit.

2. Interview with Guerric - mutual introduction, deep dive into the role, both projects, and our approach to management.

3. Case study - an exercise inspired by our real projects (for example: identifying the first 10 contacts to reach out to for the water project).

4. Final interview - with other team members

5. Reference check and offer

What we offer

- 53-56K + 20% “interessement” : 63K-67K total comp

- Opportunity to invest in Hexa portfolio startups at a preferential rate

- Swile meal card

- 8 to 12 RTT days per year

- Mobility budget: €500/year for green transportation (bike, metro, electric scooter)

- Health insurance with 50% coverage for you and your family

- 1% Holiday bonus