D) Role At Startup Guardsphere

SouthwestX

Saarbrücken

12 minutes

Saarbrücken

12m

GUARDSPHERE
Saarbrücken, Germany | On-site | Co-Founder / Equity | Deep Tech / OT & Industrial Cybersecurity

**About GuardSphere
**GuardSphere protects factories, energy plants and critical infrastructure from cyberattacks without ever stopping production. Its product, NeuroX Shield, passively watches a plant's industrial network, learns normal behavior, and lets operators respond to threats safely and gradually — built for mid-sized German manufacturers and utilities who can't afford downtime and have no in-house security specialist.

**The opportunity
**Founded around Farah Elshenawy (7 years in penetration testing, OSCP, MSc Entrepreneurial Cybersecurity at Saarland University/CISPA) and machine-learning lead Nazligul Kese, GuardSphere has validated its prototype with 47+ industry professionals across 6 industrial events and secured €800k in StartupSecure funding. What's missing is the commercial engine to turn validated R&D into revenue. We are looking for a Business / Industry co-founder specialized in OT security go-to-market, GuardSphere is separately also open to a CTO / software co-founder with OT/ICS development experience.

Tasks

**What you will own
**

**Go-to-market & sales
**- Build GuardSphere's route into German manufacturing and utilities, converting strong customer interest (47+ contacts across 6 events) into pilots and paying customers.
- Bridge NeuroX Shield's technical capabilities with the budget and risk-appetite decision cycle of Plant Managers and CISOs.
Commercial strategy
- Understand and navigate industrial procurement processes, budgets and buying decisions in OT/manufacturing.
- Own pricing, packaging and commercial positioning as the prototype becomes a repeatable product.
Company build-up
- Lead incorporation (planned mid-2027) and support fundraising alongside Farah Elshenawy (Project Lead / CEO track).

Requirements

**What you bring
**

**Core experience
**- Business development or sales experience in OT/ICS cybersecurity, industrial automation, or a closely related B2B industrial technology field.
- Understanding of German manufacturing and utilities procurement, budgets and decision cycles.
Especially valuable
- Existing network among Plant Managers, CISOs or OT security buyers.
- Familiarity with IEC 62443 and industrial compliance standards.
- GuardSphere is separately seeking a CTO/Developer co-founder, hands-on OT/ICS software development experience is valuable for that parallel track.

Benefits

Why join GuardSphere
- A prototype already validated through 47+ customer conversations and 6 industrial events, real market pull, not just a hypothesis.
- €800k in non-dilutive StartupSecure funding already secured.
- Ground-floor equity in a company addressing a growing, regulation-driven market (IEC 62443, rising OT/ICS attack surface).

GuardSphere welcomes co-founder candidates regardless of gender, age, ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, sexual identity, or any other characteristic. This is a search for the right partner to build the company with, not a conventional hire.