Foundational Hire: Commercial Strategy & Market Development

The Role

We are looking for our foundational hire in Commercial Strategy & Market Development to serve as the company's first dedicated commercial hire. This is a cross-functional, multi-market role: you will be responsible for rapidly evaluating new application areas for our superconducting materials, building the commercial logic behind our go-to-market sequencing, and progressively becoming an external face of the company with partners, customers, and at industry conferences

This is not a single-vertical role. Our materials platform has potential applications across healthcare, energy and transportation. You will be the person who determines which of these markets we pursue, when, and how. You should be energized by the prospect of parachuting into an unfamiliar industry, quickly building conviction on whether it represents a real opportunity, and presenting a clear recommendation to leadership.

What You'll Do

Market research & intelligence (50% initially, decreasing over time)

• Lead end-to-end "market sprint" assessments of new application areas: TAM sizing, competitive landscape mapping, value chain analysis, customer pain point identification, and QF materials-to-market-fit evaluation.
• Synthesize complex technical and commercial information into concise, decision-ready deliverables for leadership and investors.
• Build and maintain a prioritized pipeline of target markets, continuously updating as new data and discoveries emerge from our R&D team.
• Develop cost-benefit models and business cases that translate materials science advantages into customer-facing value propositions across diverse verticals.

Commercial strategy & go-to-market (30%)

• Own the commercial logic underpinning QF's phased commercialization roadmap, from beachhead market selection through partnership strategy and early revenue models.
• Make go/no-go recommendations to the CEO and Chief of Staff on market entry, with supporting evidence and a proposed sequencing plan.
• Develop and refine QF's value propositions for each target market, adapting the narrative based on audience (investors, potential OEM partners, end customers, grant reviewers).
• Inform fundraising narratives with market-backed evidence and commercial traction signals (LOIs, partnership discussions, conference engagement).

External engagement & partnerships (20% initially, growing over time)

• Represent QF at industry conferences, trade shows, and ecosystem events across our target verticals.
• Cultivate relationships with potential partners, including magnet OEMs, wire producers, system integrators, and end-use technology companies, to build toward LOIs and demo partnerships.
• Serve as a credible commercial voice in partner and customer conversations, translating our science into business terms.
• Over time, lead early-stage partnership negotiations and structure commercial agreements.

What We're Looking For

Required:

• 4–8 years of professional experience in management consulting, venture capital, corporate strategy, business development, technology commercialization, or a comparable analytical/strategic role.
• Demonstrated ability to rapidly learn unfamiliar industries and produce high-quality market assessments under time pressure. We care about how you think through a new market, not whether you already know superconductors.
• Strong quantitative skills: comfortable building financial models, sizing markets from primary and secondary sources, and constructing cost-benefit analyses.
• Excellent written and verbal communication. You will be writing investor-grade market analyses and presenting to technical audiences at conferences.
• Comfort with ambiguity and context-switching. In a given week you might be deep in nuclear energy regulatory dynamics, then pivoting to battery storage value chains, then preparing a conference talk.
• Self-directed and low-ego. You'll be the foundational commercial hire on a small team of PhDs. You need to be comfortable operating without a playbook and rolling up your sleeves.

Preferred (not required):

• Experience in deep tech, advanced materials, energy, healthcare/medical devices, or industrial/hardware sectors.
• Familiarity with B2B sales cycles in industries with long adoption timelines and high switching costs.
• Prior experience at or exposure to early-stage startups (seed to Series A).
• Technical undergraduate or graduate degree (engineering, physics, materials science, or similar). This is helpful for engaging credibly with R&D teams and technical customers, but not essential if you demonstrate strong technical learning ability.
• Existing network in any of our target verticals (energy, healthcare/medical devices, cryogenics, industrial infrastructure, or defense).

Why This Role

This is a rare opportunity to shape the commercial strategy of a company building foundational materials for the 21st century. You will have direct influence over which multi-billion-dollar markets we enter, and you'll be working alongside a world-class scientific team, high caliber VCs, and world-famous advisors. As the company scales through its commercialization phases, this role has a clear growth path to a department leading role.

What We Offer

• Base salary with a performance-based bonus structure, including equity and/or cash incentives
• Employee sponsored benefits including health and dental insurance, plus a 401(k).
• Unlimited paid time off (PTO): minimum three weeks, federal holidays, and a company-wide closure between Christmas and New Years to support work-life balance.
• A flexible, hybrid work environment based at The Engine, MIT's tough tech incubator, located in the heart of Kendall Square. Easily accessible by public transit and surrounded by one of the most vibrant innovation communities in the world.
• Relocation reimbursement for candidates moving to the Boston/Cambridge area.