Stategy and Operations Manager

About the company

Foundation Alloy is building the most advanced metal parts supplier in the world. Our mission is to enable innovation in the physical world, and unlock safer, greener and more exciting generations of products across critical industries like space, aerospace, automotive, energy and defense. Leveraging materials technology from MIT and UC Irvine, alongside advanced manufacturing and automation, we can make parts that blow through the performance plateaus of legacy materials and processes while reducing lead times by 90%, energy usage by 50%, and costs.

What you'll be working on: 

Foundation Alloy is seeking a Strategy and Operations Manager to join our Go-to-Market team. We are seeking a high-performing, adaptable generalist ("athlete") who thrives in ambiguity, moves quickly, and can bridge technical insights with commercial strategy. This role sits at the intersection of customer success, market research, business analytics, and product development, ensuring we maximize value for customers and scale efficiently. The ideal candidate should be comfortable wearing multiple hats. You will be instrumental in helping Foundation Alloy scale its operations and commercial success by blending strategy, execution, and technical acumen. Your tasks will include:

• Own post-sales engagement and ensure customers successfully test and integrate our novel alloys
• Act as a key point of contact for customers and manage commercial and technical communications
• Develop customer performance metrics and track pilot project success to drive future expansion
• Coordinate with engineering teams to translate customer needs into product development requirements
• Assist in structuring commercial deals (e.g., pricing models, pilot project agreements)
• Conduct deep-dive market research on key applications, competitors, and customer needs in target industries
• Analyze pilot project performance, customer engagement, and operational efficiency to inform strategy and accelerate product validation and go-to-market
• Support go-to-market strategies for launching new alloy products and manufacturing systems

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Materials Science, or a related technical field. Advanced degree (e.g., MS, PhD) or MBA is a plus
• 2-5 years of experience in customer success, project management, product management, management consulting, and/or marketing, preferably in a manufacturing environment
• Strong presentation and analytical skills with proficiency in Google Slides and Sheets
• Strong modeling, business analytics, and operational execution skills
• Demonstrated ability to present and collaborate with cross-functional teams including executives, customers, engineering, sales, and marketing
• Experience in high-performance materials, advanced manufacturing, or technical sales is a plus
• Ability to travel to customer sites when necessary - less than 25% of the time

Culture

We don’t look for profiles that “fit” with our culture. We look for people that add to who we are - people with the initiative, positive approach to problem solving, and passion for something (anything!) that will make them both high impact and exciting to work alongside from day one. We know that these people come from all walks of life, with all backgrounds and levels of experience. If you’re excited about the work we can do together, please reach out. We enthusiastically welcome team members of all races, colors, religions, ages, sexes, sexual orientations, gender identities, national origins, different abilities, genetics, veteran statuses, and former incarceration statuses.

Compensation and Benefits

The success of this company will be grounded in the long-term productivity of our team. To provide everyone with the physical, mental and financial safety to operate at their long-term best, we provide the following:

• Meaningful, challenging, impactful work, and opportunities to grow within the company at all levels
• Competitive salary, guaranteed to rise with inflation at a minimum each year
• Equity - People at every level will have an impact, and should benefit from their work
• Unlimited paid vacation, with a very strong expectation that employees take a minimum of 15 days off per year, and a full week off at least once per year
• Flexible working style. Most jobs will require people to be present in person or in office most of the time, but in general we care about what’s getting done, not when or where you’re doing it
• Top tier health, dental and vision insurance with limited employee contributions
• A voice in future benefits. This is the beginning, and we will work together to keep adding new, better ways to provide for everyone in the company