SILIENT  ·  Careers

Chief Operating Officer
→ CEO Track

We are looking for a senior operator who is also an engineer — to run Silient now, and lead it as Chief Executive Officer within six to twelve months.

Charleston, SCFull-timeFounder-owned · Profitable · Growing
How to apply
LocationCharleston, SC — hybrid
Cash compensation$130,000 – $182,000
EquityProfits-interest grant
TravelAbout 5%, incl. overseas

Silient designs and manufactures the Nørdic Ice Shower System — commercial cold-water shower and chiller systems that give luxury wellness operators the benefits of cold therapy without a shared tub or chemicals: fresh 45°F water, every user, every time.

Every unit is a refrigeration system, a plumbing system, a control board, and a piece of firmware, with components assembled by hand in our Charleston warehouse and installed across the country.

We are the system of record in the category. Silient is specified into every new Equinox buildout in the United States, and our systems are installed at East Bank Club in Chicago and across the Perspire Sauna Studio franchise, with The Breakers Palm Beach as our first hotel account. We are working with national specifiers and hospitality groups on the next wave of installs. The company has grown alongside large national brands as a small, highly efficient team, and we are extremely AI-forward — leveraging the bleeding edge across all of our operations.

The company is founder-owned, profitable, and at the point where it needs a senior operator who is also an engineer. This role begins as Chief Operating Officer and is built to become Chief Executive Officer within 6 to 12 months, contingent on performance against pre-defined operating, channel, product, and team milestones. The founder moves to Chair on a published schedule.

What you will own in year one

  • Operating cadence and P&LThe weekly operating rhythm across pipeline, manufacturing, install schedule, supplier portfolio, and cash. Internal KPIs, and the daily process modifications and projects required to accelerate growth in the context of those KPIs.
  • Engineering and productDirect our external contract resources from prototype to production for the products planned across Commercial and Residential over the next year: the main chiller platform, a next-generation luxury fixture and interface line, the controller firmware, and an additional proprietary new product line. This role is the senior technical decision-maker.
  • Sourcing and supply chainSupplier strategy and negotiation for the chiller system and the point-of-use line, domestic and overseas. Cost reduction across the supply chain.
  • AI leverageApply current AI tooling across every function — automating what can be automated so that each person on the team is spent on the highest-value work.
  • Team and cultureManage the team and own a results-focused culture. Lead sales and customer-satisfaction metrics are the two beacons we steer by.
  • Channel diversificationOver time, transition sales ownership from the founder to an additional sales lead hire to build commercial channels beyond our largest existing partners.

Who this is for

  • An engineerMechanical, electrical, mechatronics, or an equivalent hands-on technical career. You can read a P&ID, a schematic, and a BOM, and you have debugged a product in the field.
  • An operator, not a manager of managersFive to ten years running things. You have shipped specific projects that would not exist without your direct involvement, and you have named references prepared to confirm it. You have owned a P&L or a full function with budget authority.
  • Commercially capableYou have sold, negotiated with suppliers, or built a channel. You do not need to be a career salesperson, but you cannot be allergic to it.
  • AI-nativeExtensive hands-on experience with Claude Code, Cowork, or equivalent.
  • Comfortable across surfacesA factory floor in Asia one week, a luxury hospitality partner the next, our warehouse floor designing a new SOP the week after.
  • Disagreeable in the helpful senseWilling to surface uncomfortable truths.

Compensation and structure

$130,000 – $182,000
Expected annual cash compensation, excluding equity

The package is built so the right operator shares meaningfully in the value they create. It centers on a significant initial profits-interest equity grant, with additional grants that trigger as the company hits EBITDA milestones and a pre-defined promotion grant on transition to CEO — structured so that a successful sale of the company could be worth millions to the holder.

Base salary of $125,000 to $160,000 calibrated to experience, plus an annual performance bonus tied to growth milestones. Charleston preferred with hybrid flexibility; 5 percent travel expected but may shift with the demands of the job, including potential overseas supplier visits.

How to apply

Email mark@silient.com with the subject line “COO application — [your name]” and include a current résumé plus two written responses of no more than 300 words each (hard cap):

  1. Name a product you have shipped that would not exist without your direct involvement. Describe the hardest technical or operational decision you made on it, and name the people who would confirm your role.
  2. Identify a luxury physical-product brand you admire. In 300 words, explain what should worry it about the next five years.
Email your application

Applications without both written responses will not be reviewed. The process includes a phone screen, a short cognitive and personality assessment, in-depth interviews including a technical session in our warehouse, a work sample, and reference checks. We respond to every complete application; reviews are rolling, with a final selection expected within 8 to 10 weeks of first contact.

SILIENT LLC  ·  Charleston, South Carolina

Use of the product is not a medical procedure. You should consult with your doctor prior to use. The product has not been tested or approved by the fda or any government agency for the treatment of any illness or disease. Do not use if pregnant, have heart conditons or other medical conditions negatively impacted by exposure to cold temperatures, are a minor, or while under the influence of drugs or alcohol. You expressly acknowledge and agree that you understand there are certain inherent risks and dangers associated with exposure to cold temperatures, including, but not limited to, heart failure, hypothermia, loss of consciousness and stroke. By using the product, you knowlingly and voluntarily accept and agree to assume all risks, both known and unknown, of illness, injury, pain, suffering, disability, or death arising therefrom.

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