Kunin→
Chief of Staff at Kunin in Process Engineering
Job Description
Chief of Staff
Location: Chattanooga
WHO WE ARE
Kunin Technologies is revolutionizing the critical mineral supply chain by implementing advanced separation technologies to capture value from overlooked resources.
Metals are everywhere, in solar panels, smartphones, electric vehicles, but as ore grades plummet globally, traditional extraction methods are failing. China dominates critical minerals markets by developing superior separation technologies that extract value from materials American mines discard as waste.
Utilizing Kunin Technologies' breakthrough mass manufacturable nano-separation systems, significantly more value can be produced from each resource, reducing waste, and unlocking metal abundance.
To achieve metal abundance, humanity must bring separation science down its own Moore’s Law: fix the idiot cost index for micro and nano scale separation materials. This requires mass manufacturing novel ion-exchange media form factors which previously struggled from high costs.
MISSION FOR YEAR 1
The CEO is simultaneously running the company's technology buildout, a multi-role hiring wave, an active federal pipeline, a critical minerals industry coalition, and the formation of a new manufacturing venture. You are the leverage that makes that portfolio manageable: a pure individual contributor seat working directly beside the CEO, frequently traveling with him, focused on partnerships, negotiation preparation, contract structuring, hiring, and absorbing administrative burden. This is a classic 18 to 36 month tour-of-duty seat with unusually broad exposure, graduating into functional leadership at Kunin or the ecosystem entities.
It is expected you will want to found a company and leave Kunin within 2-5 years.
WHAT YOU'LL LEAD
Partnership support: preparation, coordination, and follow-through across Kunin's partner and counterparty relationships.
Negotiation preparation: briefing documents, counterparty research, term summaries, and meeting-ready positions for the CEO's deals.
Contract structuring support: first drafts, redline tracking, and coordination with counsel across agreements.
The hiring wave: running executive and team search processes end to end until functional leaders own their own teams.
Administrative burden: inbound triage, scheduling coordination, and commitment tracking across the company, the coalition, and the new venture.
WHO YOU ARE
Bachelor's degree with 4+ years combining a high-rigor analytical foundation (consulting, banking, investing, or a technical degree with operating experience) and exposure to operating chaos (early-stage startup, campaign, military staff, or founder's office).
Exceptional writer.
Skilled in modelling.
Discreet by default.
COMPENSATION
This role will pay $130,000 - $240,000, benefits, and equity.
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS
Regular travel alongside CEO and independently 5-6 times per month.
Extended hours and weekends frequently required to support critical project milestones.
Kunin will do whatever it can to secure work authorization for the right candidate.
Chattanooga is more beautiful than expected, and Tennessee has no income tax.
"The Whole World Is Ion-Exchange And The Rest Are Merely Details!"
Dr. Robert Kunin of Rohm and Haas, The Pioneer of the Ion-Exchange Industry, 1951