CEO — Optical Interconnect Spin-Off (temporary assignment)
Sales - Leuven | More than two weeks ago
CEO — Optical Interconnect Spin-Off (Temporary assignment)
What You Will Do
Define the product and the market entry. Translate world-class technical features into a product roadmap that customers will pay for. Engage customers, partners, suppliers and standard bodies to lock in form factor, specifications, demonstrators and design wins.
Raise capital. Close the seed round this year. Lead the Series A. Build the narrative, the deck, the financial model, and the investor relationships. Pursue both VC and non-dilutive funding.
Build and nurture a transatlantic organization. Establish a US commercial presence while scaling the EU technical core. Hire a team that can ship hardware into the most demanding customers on earth.
Own strategy, finance, and GTM. Work side by side with our top-notch technical co-founders. They drive the technology roadmap. You drive everything else.
Who You Are
You have raised money from serious investors. You have bridged the gap between physics, and a vision and call tell the story that gets people to write checks from both VC investors as well as non-dilutive funding.
You know AI infrastructure or photonics from the inside. You've sold into hyperscalers, built transceivers, run a photonics business unit, or led product at a company that did. You know how to engage and align multiple parties along a shared mission and leverage your network to get your foot in the door.
You are a product CEO. You know how to qualify a hardware product, get it in the hands of customers to test, design-win into a bigger system, develop a resilient supply chain and can ingest market feedback to guide the way.
You move fast. The rapid evolution of the datacenter waits for no one. You know how to build high calibre teams and bridge continents, set ambitous targets and build the organisation to ship.
You are fluent in English, comfortable operating internationally, and ideally have hands-on exposure to sales, marketing, finance, and IP. A technical degree can help.
What we offer
Equity. A generous founder-level package.
Backing from imec.xpand and the imec/UGent PRG ecosystem. You are not building from a cold start. You inherit the IP, the team, the manufacturing route, and the credibility of two of the world's leading research institutions.
A real shot at a category-defining company. Co-packaged optics is the next decade of datacenter infrastructure. The laser is the chokepoint. We have the technology. The window is open now.
Autonomy. You will set the strategy.
A small, exceptional team.
- Duration of the assignment: Assignment by imec until the incorporation of the spin-off.
- Desired start date:01/07/2026
- Work regime: part-time
Location
We provide the flexibility to work both from our office premises and remotely from home. This to maintain a healthy work-life balance while being an integral part of our team. An onsite presence of 3 days a week is required. It's not possible to work 100% remote.