Founder’s Associate

At Gigaton, we’re on a mission to cut gigatonnes of carbon emissions from the world’s biggest emitting industries (like cement, steel and glass), by building autonomous AI control and optimisation systems that learn and leverage the physics of manufacturing. Our products run heavy industrial plants more efficiently, more stably, and with lower emissions in real time - laying the foundation for the next industrial revolution.

We are a team of scientists, engineers, builders, and operators who love hard problems, have high standards, and want to make change happen in the physical world. We care about deep tech, but we care even more about whether it delivers cost and carbon impact in a live plant, with real people, under real constraints.

With Gigaton, you’ll solve really tough problems in places few people ever get close to, and build something that actually helps the planet. Are you up for the challenge?

As a Founder’s Associate, you'll report directly to Josh, our CEO. You’ll work alongside him on everything it takes to build Gigaton. This role does not have a tidy list of responsibilities because it is, by definition, malleable to the business’ most pressing needs. It will encompass everything from sales and marketing to hiring, fundraising and industry expansion. The work itself will shift from being very in-the-weeds, very heavily admin-focused to deeply strategic, depending on where the blockers are.

This is one of the highest-leverage roles in the company. You will have more context, responsibility and impact than people with far more senior titles at larger companies.

Below is an example of the types of things that will come up in a normal week:

• We're about to walk into a meeting with a manufacturer in a new industry (chemicals, steel, ammonia). You make sure we arrive briefed, with impeccable materials, and that we follow up effectively.

• We didn't nail a customer call because our Plant Feasibility Assessment wasn't customer-ready. You rebuild it, then create an agent so every assessment comes out customer-ready by default.

• A legal agreement with a partner in India has been dragging. You work out why, and drive it to an outcome that's fair, delivers on our requirements and keeps the partner excited.

• Our stakeholder account maps for deployed customers aren't up to scratch. You define what good looks like, then build the automation that keeps them current.

• We're bringing our customers' most senior technical executives to London for an executive round-table. You drive it with our Head of Marketing: content that blows them away, details handled, brand lifted.

• The head of a major industry body wants to consider Josh as the Chair for their AI committee. You work out what will blow them away and pull the proposal together.

• Hiring exceptional talent is a priority and we think podcasts are the highest-value channel. If your analysis agrees, you work out which ones matter and get us on them.

Your first job is to get through lists like this with brilliant efficiency to an extraordinarily high standard. Then, work out where you can be most useful to the business proactively. Some things you’ll start doing without being asked, others you’ll automate away, and others you’ll tell Josh are not worth doing.

Before applying, read [A note on Gigaton's culture]. It is the honest version of what working here — especially directly with Josh — is like. If you finish it and you’re buzzing, we want to chat.

What a great fit looks like

• Extreme bias for ownership - you don’t wait to be asked, you see an issue and run at it.

• High comfort in ambiguity - a changing role with context you have to fill in yourself excites you.

• Outstanding written and verbal communication - you draft external emails, partnership briefs, public blogs or sales material that don’t need editing.

• Excitement with the latest productivity and AI tools - you use AI everywhere to accelerate your work and you are able to galvanise others to do so as well.

• Exceptional analytical and problem-solving skills - you can build a basic financial model, structure market analysis and write a compelling narrative with equal comfort.

You have +3 years of experience in fast-paced environments (startup/scale-up, investment banking, top-tier consulting, private equity, venture capital or similar).

You’ll excel if you are

• You are ridiculously hungry, have extraordinarily high standards and are extremely low ego.

• You want to dedicate your career to fighting climate change.

• You have experience working in startups/scale ups (founding, early employee or operator) and are comfortable in the chaos.

• You have experience in any form of energy-intensive or heavy industry, as an operator, consultant or analyst.

💡 You are not expected to check every box, and we’d love to hear from you even if your experience isn’t an exact match.

We’re building a team that reflects the world we want to change. Our people come from all walks of life - different countries, cultures and experiences - and we think that’s one of our biggest strengths. We’re committed to creating a workplace where everyone feels safe, respected and celebrated. No matter your background, if you’re excited by what we do, we want to hear from you.

Access and learning

You'll be in the rooms where we make critical decisions: board prep, investor conversations, decisions about our culture and which industries we enter next.

Honest caveat: this role runs at the CEO's cadence, i.e., a more intense schedule. The culture note provides some context into what that means in practical terms.

The interview process

Our interview process is designed to understand how you think and what excites and drives you. The process has four main stages.

Talent Partner Screen - (Remote Interview)

You’ll meet a member of our talent team online for an initial conversation to get to know you a bit better and to help you understand the role.

Pre-meet task - (Home Task)

If we’d like to learn a little more after the first conversation, we’ll send you a short take-home task.

There are no right answers, and we’re not looking for polished or lengthy responses. We want to understand a little more about how you think, what drives you and how you approach things.

We’ll review your responses before deciding on the next stage of the process.

Josh Screen - (Remote Interview)

If you progress, you’ll meet Josh online.

This will be a relatively unstructured conversation to understand who you really are: what motivates you, how you think about the world, the importance you place on your work, and what you want to achieve in life.

Before this call, you should read the note Josh shared with our team about our culture here.

Working exercise – Part 1 - (Remote Interview)

You’ll then complete the first part of our working exercise online with Josh.

We won’t give too much away here, but it will give us a chance to see how you think and approach a problem in real time.

Working exercise – Part 2 - (In Person)

The second part of the working exercise will take place in person with members of the wider team.

This will explore a different problem area and give you a chance to work through something together with some of the people you may work closely with.

Operating Principles - (Remote Interview)

You’ll meet with us online to discuss examples from your past work that relate to how we operate: ownership, ambition, honesty, adaptability, and kindness.

We’re proud of our operating principles, which are published online here.

We believe hiring is a two-way process. Just as we’ll reference-check candidates before making a final offer, we encourage you to reference-check us by chatting to team members you haven’t yet met. Ask anything. We’ll answer with Concrete Honesty.

Once interviews are done, we’ll move quickly to a decision, and we’re always happy to give feedback at any stage.

In return for your hard work, we’ll give you

📈 Equity in the company: When we win, you win. You’ll get share options, so you’re part of our journey from the inside.

🕰️ Flexible working We trust you to know how and when you work best and to work that out with your team.

🌴 30 days of holiday (plus bank holidays). Rest is productive. Take the time you need to recharge

🪙 A generous pension scheme. We’re planning for the future in more ways than one.

Our Operating Principles

↗️ Go Gig or Go Home: High Bar, All In. What we do matters to humanity, to our customers and to each other. We hold ourselves to an extraordinarily high bar and bring the urgency this mission requires.

🏭 Concrete Honesty: Be honest. As concrete forms the foundation of our world, genuine honesty and transparency are the bedrock of our culture.

🦾 Autonomous Ownership: High agency, high ownership. We build systems that take control and make things better. We do the same: see it, own it, drive it.

😄 Cement it with Kindness & Fun: Have fun, be kind. We're here to extend Earth's life, but ours is still limited. We want to enjoy the ride. To see these in full, go to Gigaton’s Operating Principles Notion page.