🏎️ TLDR: Cognyx is an early stage VC-backed tech (SaaS) company building groundbreaking technology to accelerate engineering cycles. We’re hiring our “Right Arm to the CEO’’ to support our Go-to-Market efforts, in a very sales-focused organization. This role will give you a unique opportunity to learn and contribute to the early days of a startup’s GTM, also known as “Founder-led Sales”. You’ll be working on Enterprise / Key Account sales with the CEO, and will assist in other aspects of growth (Marketing, Lead Generation, etc.). This versatile and wide-scope role is an ideal opportunity for an aspiring entrepreneur or young future founder to learn the ropes! The position is open as an internship, ideally as a final step before validating your degree. 

📌 Location(s): Paris (70%), client locations (15%, likely in Paris), WFH (15%). Remote work is not offered for this position.

💶 Salary range: 1500 € / month. Usual French perks. 

📑 Type of Contract: internship with a “convention de stage”

🕵️ Position also known as: Chief of Staff

👏 Direct reporting line: Co-Founder & CEO (Matthias Berahya-Lazarus).

Cognyx in a Nutshell

Our ambition: empower thousands of industrial and manufacturing companies to design and engineer hardware products at software speed!

What we’re building: Cognyx designs groundbreaking SaaS technology to help organizations accelerate their time-to-market, reduce manufacturing errors, and streamline engineering processes. Leveraging the power of Knowledge Graphs and AI, Cognyx enhances engineers’ daily work by reconciling Product & Engineering data across different systems, helping them to collaborate faster, and automate some of their engineering work.

Where we come from: Cognyx is an early-stage VC-backed tech company. It was born just a few months ago, in Sept-23, from repeat founders Matthias & Deon. They partnered up with OSS Ventures, a leading startup studio that successfully launched 20 software startups in the Manufacturing space, including category-defining companies such as Fabriq and Mercateam. After a fast take-off in Sales, securing major contracts just a few months after inception, Cognyx quickly secured a significant pre-seed funding round from a major French VC (to be announced soon), and a panel of renowned business angels from the Tech and Manufacturing spaces.

Who we are: today, Cognyx is mostly composed of its 2 senior cofounders along with employees of OSS Ventures who helped us build the 1st version of our tech. By joining us in the very early days, that means you will be part of our “Founding Team”: your individual contribution will have a decisive impact and define our future trajectory. During the next months, we will also get to define the company culture together — and we do aim to create one where it’s (really) good to work. Among the values we already established in our short life as cardinal: Team spirit (we will fail or succeed as a group), Excellence (we don’t settle for “mediocre” or “average”), Sincerity (we tell the truth to others, and to ourselves).

To find out more: you can visitour website orLinkedin page! You can also learn more about our lead investorsOSS Ventures

Why we need you

The early stages of a startup are incredibly intense, and we think the main focus of the CEO should be to move the topline as fast as possible. As the “Right Arm to the CEO,” your role will be critical in assisting him in Founder-led Sales! 

What you’ll do

In a nutshell: As the “Right Arm to the CEO,” you will support the CEO in several aspects of our young business, with a special focus on Sales & Go-to-Market – the #1 focus for any experienced CEO! You’ll be ensuring that our ambitious revenue goals are met in order to prepare for our next financing round. This role requires versatility, resourcefulness, and a hands-on approach to tackle the diverse and evolving needs of our clients! 

On a day to day basis, as a Right Arm to the CEO, here’s what you can expect: 

• Sales Project Management: Oversee and manage key sales initiatives from conception to completion, ensuring they are delivered on time and within scope. Coordinate with sales teams, track progress, and address any issues that arise.

• Lead Generation and Follow-Up: Assist the CEO in identifying and pursuing new sales leads, including follow-up and nurturing of long-cycle sales prospects. Leverage our Growth Marketing stack to uncover our next opportunity 

• Sales Data Analysis and Reporting: conduct research and analyze sales data to provide insights that inform strategic decisions. Prepare detailed sales reports, presentations, and dashboards to keep the CEO and other stakeholders informed of key metrics and progress.

• Sales Communication and Coordination: Act as a liaison between the CEO, sales teams, and external stakeholders. Ensure clear and effective communication, facilitate meetings, and follow up on sales action items.

• Customer Relationship Management: Build and maintain relationships with key enterprise clients. Assist in preparing for client meetings, calls, and presentations to ensure successful sales engagements.

• Proposal Development: Assist in the development of proposals and presentations for prospective clients, ensuring alignment with client needs and company capabilities.

• Stakeholder Engagement: build and maintain relationships with key stakeholders of each account. Assist in preparing for meetings, calls, and presentations with these stakeholders.

• Operational Efficiency: Identify opportunities to improve operational processes and workflows within the organization. Implement best practices and tools to enhance productivity and efficiency.

By fulfilling these responsibilities, you will play a pivotal role in supporting the Founders and driving the company’s success during this critical early stage. Your proactive and entrepreneurial approach, problem-solving skills, and ability to manage multiple tasks will be essential to our growth and development.

Although this is less central to your role, you will also contribute to: 

• Strategic Planning and Execution: Assist the CEO in developing, refining, and executing the company’s strategic plans. This includes participating in brainstorming sessions, drafting strategy documents, and ensuring alignment across the organization.

• Special Projects: take on special projects and initiatives as directed by the CEO and CTO. These could range from market research, to product development support, to customer success or special project management. 

• Administrative support: although the position is NOT that of an assistant or office manager, we may ask you to handle some administrative tasks such as scheduling meetings, organizing travel arrangements, sorting out some admin stuff, etc… 

Who you’ll be working with:

As one of our very first employees, you can expect to work closely with each member of our “Founding Team”, a team of 8-10 people who will define our technology, our culture, our value proposition, our processes. This should be an exciting human & professional experience!

You’ll be reporting into Matthias, our CEO. Matthias is a very experienced founder, with proven leadership skills acquired during his 20 years of experience in Tech.

Why it’ll be fun & interesting to do with us:

Because… there is no one else doing your job! You’ll be an essential reason why the Team succeeds or fails in the next months. 

We will also put a strong emphasis on making sure you are building new skills, whether in terms of tech abilities and leadership. Our experienced founding team will be there to provide extensive guidance & coaching.

What’s next in your career? 

Cognyx is just a few months old and had a stellar kickoff – so who knows what the future holds in store for us? As one of our very first employees and a member of our “Founding Team”, there may be many opportunities to grow in expertise and skills in the months & years to come. Depending on your success during the first phase, and on your career goals, we may be able to offer you a continuation in domains such as Sales, Product or Operation

We’re looking for a talented, driven, and ambitious young professional with an entrepreneurial spirit. The necessary skills and attributes to succeed in this role include, by order of importance: 

• Educational Background:M.Sc candidate in Business, Economics, Engineering, or related field. Highly selective business or Engineering “Grandes Ecoles” will be a big plus! 

• Genuine interest in Sales / GTM: you understand the importance of that focus in startups, and get really excited about new deals moving forward! 

• Experience: 0-2 years of experience in a fast-paced, high-growth environment, preferably in startups, consulting, or similar settings. Some experience in a strategic, operational, or project management role is highly valued.

• Entrepreneurial Mindset: a self-starter with a proactive approach, able to work independently and take initiative. Comfortable with uncertainty and capable of navigating the challenges of a dynamic startup environment.

• Organizational Skills: highly organized, with strong attention to detail and the ability to manage multiple projects and priorities simultaneously.

• Analytical Skills: ability to analyze data, synthesize information, and provide actionable insights. 

• Excellent Communication Skills: great verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to convey complex information clearly and concisely. 

Curious & fast-learner: a lifelong learner with a curiosity and eagerness to develop new skills and knowledge. Open to feedback and committed to personal and professional growth.

We kindly advise you to turn back if

• You’re not seing Sales as a fundamental skill to grow a company. Yes, top-line focus is the life and blood of any company, especially high-growth startups. Not everyone want to focus on this, though. 

• You’re not an entrepreneurial profile: self-driven, autonomous, dynamic. You need to be comfortable with uncertainty, frequent change and a certain degree of improvisation. You like taking on new tasks that weren’t mentioned on this job description. This is especially true for our Founding Team!

• You’re not fully comfortable working in French and English (our team is international from day 1 and English is our official language)

• You’re not looking for a positively challenging job. Clearly, this is not an easy job. Although we pay a close attention to work & life balance (see below), we realize that we are addressing a complex problem, for demanding clients, and that our mission is a very hard one. “Average” or “good enough” won’t cut it: we need “outstanding” and “excellence”.

Please use the form of this website to apply. After this, here’s what you can expect:

1. Quick intro discussion on reciprocal fit (30 min Call, with CEO)

2. Sales skills focused interview (45 min, with CEO) 

3. Cultural fit, personality assessment (45 min F2F, with CTO)

4. Reference checks if applicable (1-2 calls)

Final words to our candidates!

WFH or in-office?

At Cognyx, aligning with our values and culture means embracing the energy of working together, especially for members of our “Founding Team” in the critical early months of our company. While understanding that “life” happens and requires some flexibility (= 1-2 days WFH per week), we’re convinced that in-person collaboration sparks creativity and drives innovative outcomes. To enhance this connection, we encourage all employees to work mostly from our offices, or from our clients’ offices when necessary to accelerate feedback loops.

Work & Life balance: yes, it’s a thing.

At Cognyx, we understand the importance of work-life balance, especially for our employees who are parents. Our CEO, a father of 2 young children, is a testament to our commitment to create a flexible and supportive environment for all. We believe in the importance of being there for our families and we strive to provide flexible schedules where possible. We always encourage our employees to take the time they need for their personal lives, as we understand that a balanced life leads to longer tenures, increased productivity and happiness in the workplace.

We welcome all candidates!

Cognyx is dedicated to fostering a culture of diversity, equality, and inclusion. We invite candidates from diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences to apply as we strive to solve Manufacturing’s most challenging problems. We recognize that not all candidates will meet every requirement; we value your unique contributions and encourage you to apply even if you do not check all the boxes.

Cognyx is committed to ensuring our job application process is accessible to everyone. If you have a disability, whether visible or not, and require any reasonable accommodations at any stage of the application or hiring process — or within the job itself — please contact us so we can provide the necessary support.