Head of Market Intelligence & Innovation Programmes

Executive Summary

We are seeking a Head of Market Intelligence & Innovation Programmes to build and lead the Company’s market and regulatory intelligence, its strategic relationships with academic and public institutions, and its non-dilutive funding activities, as we move our patented Plasmapanel active sound-absorption platform from development into industrialisation and commercial deployment.

Plasmapanel addresses noise problems across a broad range of markets, including data-centre and industrial cooling, domestic appliances, heating, ventilation and air-conditioning, automotive, rail, and aviation. The successful candidate will provide the market, competitive, and regulatory intelligence that guides the Company’s priorities, and will translate the compliance and certification requirements of our target markets into clear inputs for product development. The role will also shape the Company’s AI-enabled intelligence tools, which automate the collection, analysis, filtering, and synthesis of market information, by defining what they should look for and judging the quality of what they produce.

As an EPFL spin-off with research and development activities in Switzerland, Italy, and New Zealand, Sonexos works closely with universities and research institutes, including EPFL, the University of Auckland, and the Politecnico di Milano, as well as with funding agencies, industry associations, and public bodies. The successful candidate will develop these relationships strategically, identify the national and European funding opportunities that best match our technical and commercial roadmap, prepare high-quality applications together with academic and industrial partners, and manage awarded projects through to successful completion.

This is a hands-on role, combining research, analysis, writing, and programme management with the ability to represent the Company credibly to senior academic, government, and industry counterparts.

The position sits within the Company’s marketing function, reports to the Company’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), and is based in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Responsibilities

• Build and maintain a structured view of the Company’s target markets, including market size, segmentation, growth drivers, and adoption barriers, and monitor the macro-economic, technological, regulatory, and societal trends shaping demand for active noise control.
• Develop market models and forecasts, and prepare concise, well-sourced reports, briefings, and recommendations for the management team, distinguishing clearly between established data and estimates.
• Inform the Company’s AI-enabled market-intelligence tools, defining the priorities, sources, and relevance criteria that guide the automated collection, analysis, filtering, and synthesis of intelligence, and validating and interpreting their outputs.
• Map the OEMs, integrators, and suppliers in each target market, analyse competing and substitute noise-control approaches, and support product and account prioritisation with structured analysis of application requirements and value propositions.
• Identify the safety, environmental, and certification requirements applicable to the Company’s products in each target market, maintain them in a structured requirements register, and work with product development and operations so that they are reflected in product specifications from the outset.
• Monitor emerging standards and regulations, including those governing environmental and community noise, and plan certification routes with product development, test laboratories, and certification bodies.
• Develop and maintain the Company’s strategic relationships with universities and research institutes, including EPFL, the University of Auckland, and the Politecnico di Milano, among others, structuring collaborations that complement our roadmap and protect our intellectual property.
• Establish and maintain relationships with federal, cantonal, and European funding agencies, innovation-promotion organisations such as Innovaud, and other public bodies relevant to the Company’s markets.
• Engage with industry associations and technical bodies such as Eurovent, the European Heat Pump Association, ASHRAE, and the Audio Engineering Society.
• Develop a non-dilutive funding strategy and maintain a pipeline of opportunities across Swiss, cantonal, European, and international instruments, including those of Innosuisse, Horizon Europe, the European Innovation Council, and Eurostars, assessing each for strategic fit, eligibility, co-funding obligations, and probability of success.
• Lead the preparation of grant and programme applications, and build and coordinate consortia with academic, industrial, and public partners through to award.
• Manage awarded projects through to completion, including planning, milestone tracking, partner coordination, compliance with funding-agency rules, and technical and financial reporting.
• Contribute market, regulatory, and funding content to strategic plans, Board materials, and investor communications, and establish fit-for-purpose processes and tools that scale with the Company’s growth.

Qualifications

• Master’s degree in engineering, physics, or a related technical discipline; a doctorate is advantageous.
• Candidates with a business, economics, or innovation-management background will be considered where they can demonstrate fluency with complex technical subject matter.
• An additional qualification in business administration, innovation management, or project management is advantageous.
• Working knowledge of product-compliance frameworks, including CE marking and international electrical-safety and EMC standards.
• Excellent written English, with the ability to produce persuasive, rigorous, and well-structured applications and reports.

Experience

• Approximately 8–12 years of relevant experience in market and technology intelligence, innovation management, research-programme management, or technical business development within technology, engineering, or industrial organisations.
• A demonstrable track record of successful non-dilutive funding applications, preferably including Innosuisse and Horizon Europe or European Innovation Council instruments.
• Experience managing collaborative research and development projects with academic and industrial partners, including technical and financial reporting to funding agencies.
• Experience conducting market research and competitive analysis in industrial, OEM, or technology markets, including market sizing and forecasting.
• Experience defining or managing regulatory and certification requirements for electrical or electromechanical products is strongly preferred.
• Established relationships within the Swiss and European research and innovation ecosystem are highly desirable.
• Familiarity with one or more of our target sectors, such as data-centre or industrial cooling, HVAC, domestic appliances, automotive, rail, or aviation, is desirable.
• Exposure to product management or product marketing in a technology business, and experience using or specifying AI-assisted research and analysis tools, would be advantageous.
• Experience in a start-up, spin-off, or scale-up environment would be advantageous.

Personal Attributes

• Analytically rigorous, with the discipline to distinguish evidence from assumption and to state the confidence behind conclusions.
• Strategic thinker who connects market, regulatory, and funding developments to the Company’s priorities and recommends clear courses of action.
• Commercially minded, with sound judgement on market positioning, value propositions, and how the Company’s technology is presented to customers and partners.
• Persuasive and precise writer, able to make a compelling case to evaluators, partners, and investors without overstating claims.
• Credible relationship-builder with academic, government, and industry counterparts at senior level.
• Highly organised and capable of managing multiple applications, deadlines, and projects in parallel.
• Hands-on and self-directed, comfortable in a small, fast-moving deep-technology company, and discreet in the handling of confidential technical, commercial, and partner information.

Location & Work Eligibility

• The position is based in Lausanne, Switzerland.
• Regular physical presence in Lausanne is required, given the role’s close interaction with the CEO, the technical and product-development teams, and Swiss academic and public institutions.
• English is the Company’s working language. French is highly desirable; German and/or Italian would be advantageous.
• Candidates must be authorised to work in Switzerland at the time of employment.
• Regular travel within Switzerland and Europe, and occasional international travel, will be required in connection with partner, agency, consortium, and industry engagements.