One of our portfolio firms - Cenotian (https://cenotian.com) - is hiring.

Full, detailed job description is available here:

https://foundamental.notion.site/Cenotian-EVP-Global-OEM-Origination-272eda26acbc80b88f0efa1d778b35fe

Below is an excerpt.

Apply via Linkedin.

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This is an exciting role for an exceptionally ambitious and entrepreneurial leader to join the executive team on a high-stakes, IPO-bound journey - building the global asset-backed financing leader for the emerging asset class of robotics and automation equipment, alongside world-class venture and robotics investors and specialists.

With strong institutional backing and a mandate to scale quickly, we are building the wider executive team and moving at speed toward market leadership.

Context

Robotics and automation are going to experience explosive global demand in the coming years, resembling the growth years of aircraft leasing finance, telco tower infrastructure, and data center hyperscalers, but there is an unsolved financing gap that holds back mass capacity adoption.

Traditional lessors and ABS models break down in robotics and automation: there is no residual value, no redeployability, and no secondary market due to deep integrations and heavy customization. As a result, OEMs bear the financing gap most severely – because nearly every piece of equipment and project must be financed by them, while customers resist downpayments given the financing complexity and stranded risks. At the same time, Chinese OEMs are rising fast and will dominate, creating a massive timely opportunity to give fungibility to customers anywhere in the world.

We are building the capital markets infrastructure to close that gap, just as aircraft leasing once capitalized on global aviation with prime fixed-income products.

We enable robotics and automation OEMs to scale sales through asset-backed financing, modeled on the success of aircraft leasing but without the operational burden. Our platform securitizes financed equipment into pooled structures, creating a prime fixed-income product for an entirely new dominant asset class – robotics and automation – for investors, and unlocking lower-cost capital with zero risk absorbed by us or the OEM.

We cracked how to eliminate stranded risk for customers and have solved the challenge of no residual value, no redeployability and no secondary market with a unique product logic specific to the emerging robotics and automation asset class.

Our customers benefit from no capex requirements and no stranded risk, while OEMs expand market reach, generate recurring revenue that enhances their multiples, and offer faster, more flexible buying options without balance-sheet exposure.

Position Overview

Reports to: Founder / Managing Partner

Location: Dublin or mainland Europe

The EVP, Global OEM Origination is responsible for sourcing, negotiating, and securing strategic partnerships with robotics and automation system integrators and OEMs worldwide. This role ensures the firm has privileged access to high-quality equipment pipelines, exclusive or preferred supplier relationships, and converts this access into volume-under-contract agreements that anchor the portfolio. The EVP acts as the primary commercial partner for OEMs and integrators in major global markets.

Key Responsibilities

1. Lease-Deal Origination

• Source and negotiate financial lease contracts with OEMs and operators.
• Build framework leases, PDP/pre-delivery financing, and multi-asset programs for repeat issuance.
• Standardize commercial terms and playbooks to cut cycle time and legal friction.

2. Exclusive Partnerships Origination

• Build preferred or exclusive supplier and customer relationships.
• Negotiate exclusive/preferred supplier agreements and allocation rights for high-demand SKUs.
• Lock in multi-year, multi-market frameworks that deliver pipeline certainty and priority access.

3. Program & Delivery Alignment

• Synchronize OEM production/delivery slots with financing readiness and customer deployment windows.
• Manage slot allocation, ramp/launch schedules, and exception handling (slippages, substitutions).

4. Strategic Co-Development

• Co-design financing-led go-to-market programs with OEMs/integrators to accelerate adoption.
• Stand up bundled robotics + financing offers, regional rollout playbooks, and co-marketing.

5. Relationship Management

• Maintain long-term strategic partnerships with OEMs, operators, and lessor peers to secure future pipeline access.
• Own C-suite coverage maps, run executive steering committees/QBRs, and manage issue escalation.
• Represent the firm at trade shows/associations/consortiums to strengthen credibility.

6. Market Intelligence & Pipeline Development

• Monitor OEM production schedules, fleet plans, and regional demand trends to feed origination strategy.
• Maintain a live global pipeline dashboard (capacity, backlogs, delivery windows) integrated with underwriting.
• Drive diversification by geography, segment, technology, and counterparty.

7. Commercial Structuring Input

• Provide real-time market data and deal flow input into product, pricing, and portfolio strategy.
• Co-shape structures with EVP, Structured Finance & Portfolio Management (usage-based, step-ups/step-downs, termination options, delivery-linked schedules).

Candidate Profile

Experience

• 10+ years in engineering or advanced manufacturing within robotics, aerospace, or automotive, substantial parts of which in international and rapid-growth environments.
• Proven track record in general or commercial management, country management, sales leadership, or manufacturing leadership, with P&L or major account responsibility.
• Hands-on experience in automation or robotics deployment projects (manufacturing, logistics, or commercial deployments).
• Demonstrated success in building strategic partnerships, securing channel or volume agreements, and managing OEM or integrator relationships.
• Bonus: Experience doing business with Chinese or Japanese automation or robotics firms.

Skills & Competencies

• Aerospace engineering degree or equivalent in robotics/automation/mechatronical engineering.
• Strong ability to translate technical and market intelligence into commercial origination strategy.
• Expert negotiator, adept at graduating from initial single deals to exclusive agreements, framework contracts, and multi-year origination partnerships.
• Deep understanding of the latest robotics/automation technologies, OEM economics, and manufacturing and supply chain challenges.
• Commercially fluent, with technical depth to engage OEM and integrator teams and help them spot commercial and deployment risks early.

Leadership Qualities

• Extremely ambitious and entrepreneurial.
• Deal-maker’s instinct.
• Comfortable internalizing personal risk to join us on this bold, IPO-bound journey.
• Inspirational leader with experience developing high-performing commercial teams.
• Culturally agile, respected by OEMs and integrators for both technical depth and commercial credibility.

Organizational Context

This EVP role is among the first we fill in our Executive Leadership Team (ELT), reporting directly to the Founder / Managing Partner and working closely with peers:

• EVP, Structured Finance & Portfolio Management
• EVP, Global Demand Origination
• EVP, Capital Formation & Investor Relations
• SVP, Underwriting & Technical Diligence
• SVP, Technology & Process Infrastructure
• SVP, Brand, PR & Community

The EVP, Global OEM Partnerships ensures the platform has exclusive supply-side volume under-contract and the world’s best pipeline of financing deals among robotic and automation system integrators and OEMs.

Exclusions: Not part of the role

• End-customer origination or sales (handled by EVP, Global Demand Origination)
• Product structuring, securitization, or finance operations (handled by EVP, Structured Finance & Portfolio Management)
• Technical assessments or credit underwriting (handled by SVP, Underwriting & Technical Diligence)
• Procurement, spare parts, inventory, or maintenance (not part of our model)

Likely Prior Roles

This role will attract seasoned executives from robotics, automation, aerospace, automotive, and advanced manufacturing. Candidates with the following prior experiences are especially well-suited:

• Founder / CEO / Co-Founder of a robotics OEM, systems integrator, automation solutions OEM, or capital equipment business.
• General Manager / Managing Director / Country Manager with P&L responsibility in robotics, automation, aerospace, or advanced manufacturing.
• VP / SVP of Global or Regional Sales leading enterprise accounts, OEM partnerships, or large-scale automation deployments.
• Director / VP of Strategic Accounts / Key Account Management handling Fortune 500 or government accounts in automation, robotics, or manufacturing technology.
• Head of Business Development / Strategic Partnerships securing multi-year framework agreements or exclusive OEM collaborations.
• Regional CEO / APAC or EMEA Business Head scaling automation or industrial technology businesses in fast-growth markets.

Executives in international automation or robotics contexts who have created commercial success by shepherding single deals and partnerships, or managing challenging engineering or manufacturing programs, will find this role a natural transition towards an entrepreneurial IPO-bound journey.