CEO / Business Co-Founder (f/m/d) role at startup IXPLAIN

About This Opportunity

Our talent team is representing a confidential deep-tech AI venture emerging from leading research institutions in Germany. The technology platform analyzes industrial time series data—not only detecting patterns in sensor streams but explaining the underlying causes through explainable AI and neuro-symbolic reasoning. Live demonstrations have already been completed at major industry events, with active commercial discussions underway in water quality monitoring, energy infrastructure, and automotive manufacturing.

The research demonstrator is functional and validated. What's missing is the company itself. We are searching for a CEO and Business Co-Founder to incorporate the venture, own the commercial relationship with initial industrial partners, and build the business around technology that a small research team has already proven in the field.

Responsibilities

• Lead incorporation of the company and define go-to-market strategy, business model, and pricing structure from the ground up
• Own fundraising strategy and investor relations for seed-stage capital, including venture and deep-tech grant programs
• Convert ongoing industrial discussions (water, energy, automotive/manufacturing sectors) into paying pilot customers
• Define product integration pathways into customers' existing workflows and enterprise systems
• Build the commercial organization and sales process alongside technical co-founders
• Represent the venture as CEO to investors, strategic partners, and enterprise customers

What We're Looking For

• Entrepreneurial or business leadership experience, ideally as a founder or in early-stage B2B SaaS or industrial-tech commercialization roles
• Demonstrated track record in business development and closing deals with industrial or enterprise customers
• Comfortable operating pre-product-market-fit without established playbooks
• Domain expertise in water, energy, or automotive/manufacturing industries strongly preferred
• Experience raising capital from venture investors or navigating deep-tech grant programs (e.g., EXIST, German public funding mechanisms) highly valuable
• Ability to bridge the languages of academic data-science research and industrial procurement
• German and English language capability beneficial given the Kaiserslautern location and DACH market focus

How We Work With You

This is a co-founder equity role, not a salaried hire. Candidates apply directly through Get A Job.ai. A recruiter from our team will conduct an initial screen to understand your entrepreneurial background and sector experience. Qualified candidates will be introduced to the technical co-founders for confidential discussions about company vision, equity structure, and partnership dynamics. Do not attempt to identify or contact the research institution or technical team directly during the process.

Pay

This is an equity-based co-founder position. Compensation structure, equity allocation, and any founder salary arrangements will be negotiated directly between co-founders during the incorporation process.

Equal Opportunity
Get A Job.ai and our clients welcome candidates regardless of gender, age, ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, sexual identity, or any other protected characteristic.