Chief Operating Officer

Chief Operating Officer (COO)

YPlasma · Deep-tech hardware (solid-state plasma cooling for Edge AI) · Madrid (HQ) or Newark, NJ · Full-time · On-site / hybrid

We are looking for an operator who comes from the world of electronics and hardware, and who wants to turn a breakthrough physics platform into a product that ships at scale inside the most demanding devices on the planet.

About YPlasma

YPlasma is a deep-tech spin-off from INTA, Spain's national aerospace agency, commercializing solid-state ionic wind cooling based on Dielectric Barrier Discharge (DBD) plasma actuators.

Our actuators are flexible films, roughly 200 microns thick, that laminate directly onto the surface that needs cooling. Apply high voltage across the electrodes and the film moves air on demand: silently, with no moving parts, at a tiny fraction of the energy a conventional fan would draw. One platform replaces the fan, removes the acoustic signature, and frees up the Z-height and reliability budget that modern electronics no longer have to spare.

Our wedge into the market is thermal management for Edge AI. Next-generation NPUs and SoCs have outgrown what mechanical fans can deliver inside the form factors that OEMs need, from AI PCs and laptops to robotics, industrial gateways, and on-device inference appliances. The thermal-design ceiling has become the product ceiling, and we remove it.

Where we are today: validated technology at lab and pilot scale, active joint-development programs and signed pilots with Tier-1 silicon vendors and OEMs, two R&D labs operational across Madrid and Newark NJ, and backing from leading deep-tech investors including SOSV / HAX and FABER. We are now moving from "the physics works" to "the product ships," and that is exactly where you come in.

Why this role exists

We have proven the science and built the demand. The next 24 months are an industrialization and operations challenge, not a research one. We need a COO who has personally taken electronic hardware from prototype to volume production, who can speak as a peer to our engineering team about power electronics and manufacturing, and who can build the operational backbone that turns design wins into shipped units and revenue.

This is a founder-level seat. You will work shoulder to shoulder with the CEO and own how the company runs and how the product gets built at scale.

What you will own

Industrialization and manufacturing

• Drive the actuator film and the high-voltage converter from current readiness levels to production-grade, manufacturable products.
• Lead the transfer to manufacturing partners (dielectric film and power-electronics partners), set up NPI, DFM, and quality systems, and own the qualification path (HALT/HASS, reliability, EMC, FCC, CE, and sector approvals).

Hardware and electronics depth

• Be a credible technical counterpart to the engineering team on power electronics, high-voltage drive circuits, materials, and integration. You do not need to design the converter yourself, but you need to know enough to challenge, prioritize, and de-risk it.

Supply chain and scaling operations

• Build the supply chain, sourcing, cost structure, quality, and operating cadence required to scale from pilots to volume. Own unit economics, BOM cost-down, and the path to gross margin.

Commercial execution and OEM design-in

• Partner with the CEO and customers to run joint-development programs and design-in cycles with OEMs and silicon vendors, translating customer thermal requirements into integration kits and commercial agreements (license and supply).

Company operations

• Build and lead a cross-geography operations function, set the rhythm of the business, and put in place the processes, hiring, and reporting that let a deep-tech startup scale without losing speed.

Who you are

You come from the electronics or hardware world. This is non-negotiable. You have spent your career in consumer electronics, semiconductors, power electronics, electronic components, EMS / ODM, or a closely related hardware field.

• 10 years of operating experience in electronics or hardware, with senior leadership scope (VP Operations, COO, VP Manufacturing, VP Engineering, GM, or similar).
• You have personally industrialized at least one physical electronic product, taking it from prototype through design-for-manufacturing and into volume production.
• Hands-on familiarity with contract manufacturing, NPI, supply chain for electronic components, quality systems, and hardware reliability and certification.
• Working knowledge of power electronics and ideally high-voltage systems, enough to lead technical tradeoffs with credibility.
• Track record working with or selling into Tier-1 OEMs or silicon vendors and managing long design-in cycles.
• Comfortable with the ambiguity, pace, and resourcefulness of an early-stage deep-tech company. You have either founded, joined early, or scaled a hardware startup before, or you are ready to make that jump.
• Fluent English. Spanish is a plus.
• Willing to be based in Madrid (HQ) or Newark NJ, and to travel between our labs, partners, and customers.

Bonus points

• Background in thermal management, cooling, HVAC, or adjacent physical systems.
• Experience scaling manufacturing with Tier-1 partners such as film, materials, or power-electronics suppliers.
• Exposure to robotics, automotive electronics, data center hardware, or aerospace.
• Prior exit or successful scale-up in a hardware company.

What we offer

• A founder-level role with real ownership and meaningful equity in a deep-tech company solving a problem that every major silicon and device roadmap is hitting right now.
• A genuinely differentiated, IP-protected technology platform, not an incremental improvement.
• A small, senior, technical team with roots in INTA, Princeton, and Tier-1 industry.
• The chance to define how a category-defining cooling technology reaches the market and to build the operation that ships it.

How to apply

Send a short note on why this role fits you, along with your LinkedIn profile or CV, to info@yplasma.tech. Tell us about an electronic product you took to volume production and what broke along the way.

YPlasma is an equal opportunity employer. We hire for capability and drive, and we welcome applicants of every background.