Founder’s Associate (Graduate) in Wakefield

Location: Wakefield (5 days per week at our head office)

Type of contract: 18‑month fixed term contract, with the opportunity to move to a permanent full‑time role based on performance

Salary & benefits: £30,000 - £35,000 with an annual performance bonus of up to 15%. Workplace pension scheme and private health and dental insurance.

Reporting to: Associate Director, CEO’s office

Experience: Entry‑level role

The energy transition needs people who can figure things out. Commercial transport is one of the hardest parts of the energy transition challenge. It’s complex, fragmented, and moving fast, and the infrastructure to support it barely exists yet. That’s exactly why we’re building it at Aegis Energy.

Aegis Energy is developing a network of 50+ clean energy hubs across the UK, giving truck and van fleets genuine, practical access to electric charging, hydrogen, HVO and bio‑CNG. We’re not waiting for the transition to happen. We focus on meeting the demands of the commercial vehicle sector.

We’re looking for an exceptional graduate to join the CEO’s Office as our Founder’s Associate — someone energised by hard problems, comfortable with ambiguity, and ready to do work that genuinely matters from day one.

About the role

This is a Founder’s Associate role, at entry level, reporting directly to the Associate Director within the CEO’s Office and working closely with the CEO. It’s a broad, high‑trust, high‑context seat at the centre of the business, giving you a direct line of sight into how a fast-growing company is run.

Your remit will deliberately span multiple workstreams rather than sitting in a single function. On any given week you might be supporting legal, HR and people matters, driving an innovation initiative, or owning a discrete piece of a special project that lands on the CEO’s desk. The common thread is that you take ownership, move quickly, and bring clear thinking to problems that don’t yet have an obvious answer.

You’ll have direct exposure to the CEO, the senior leadership team and the wider corporate function, giving you an unusual vantage point on how priorities are set, decisions are made, and time and capital are allocated across the company. You’ll be expected to handle sensitive and confidential information with discretion and good judgement.

You will join us alongside our incoming graduate analysts and take part in the same structured training programme, development plan, and graduate cohort experience. Whilst not a rotational programme, you’ll be embedded across the business, working alongside and gaining exposure to engineering, development, operations, business development, commercial and finance teams.

Some examples of initiatives that you’ll be working on:

• Special projects: take ownership of discrete, high‑priority projects that land on the CEO’s desk – scoping the problem, pulling together the analysis, and driving them through to a clear outcome, whether that’s a new market entry, a partnership, or an internal initiative.
• Innovation & grant funding: support our innovation pipeline and competitive grant applications (e.g. Innovate UK, Horizon Europe), helping draft submissions, coordinate consortium partners, and track milestones, claims and reporting against awarded funding.
• Consortium & partnership building: help build and manage consortia and partnerships – such as our work with Transport Scotland and major fleet operators – supporting coordinating stakeholders, letters of intent and the business cases that bring partners on board.
• Legal & governance: support the coordination of legal, contractual and corporate governance matters – from collaboration agreements and grant contracts to board and committee documentation – keeping documents, processes and approvals organised.
• AI & ways of working: identify and roll out AI agents, automations and tools that make the CEO’s Office and the wider business faster and lighter.
• Business & leadership support: provide direct, high‑trust support to the Associate Director and CEO across correspondence, research, briefings, external profile (events and speaking opportunities) and meeting preparation and follow‑ups.
• Insight & reporting: track developments across energy markets, transport policy and emerging technology, and translate what you find into clear, actionable insight.

You’ll thrive here if:

• You’re drawn to problems that don’t have obvious answers.
• You can hold your own in a room of experienced people — and you’re willing and excited to learn from them.
• You think clearly under pressure and know how to prioritise.
• You’re genuinely excited by the energy transition — not just as a career move, but as something worth getting right.
• You’re fluent in AI tools, and curious about how technology can unlock better ways of working.
• You come with a strong academic background in engineering, computer science, maths, economics, environmental science, or a related field — though what matters most is how you think, not what you studied.

Please note, this role requires the right to work in the United Kingdom, from the start date of the job, and for the duration of the 18‑month contract. We are unable to sponsor visas at this time.

We are an equal opportunity employer and welcome applications from all qualified candidates. We thank all applicants for their interest; however, only those selected for an interview will be contacted.