Co-founder in residence - Plastic waste to platform materials (packaging)
Join as a Founder in Residence in Climate
We're on the lookout for entrepreneurial individuals with technical and commercial domain expertise with keen interest in founding, and building a global scale, impact driven, high growth company from ground up.
We are seeking applications from experienced industry, startup and/or new science or engineering based technology development professionals from anywhere in the world to work with us on the next generation of plastics recycling.
You’ll work closely with the DSV team and the current Founder in Residence for this area to co-found and spin-out a new company. Once the new venture is incorporated with pre-seed investment from DSV, you and your co-founder(s) will own the majority stake in the business and continue receiving support from the DSV team post-spinout.
The role is full-time, remote initially until venture incorporation and spin-out (circa Q1 2026).
The Opportunity
We are building a venture to transform waste polyolefins into high-value, recyclable degradable packaging materials. Our novel process produces polymers with properties comparable to polypropylene but with dramatically improved end-of-life characteristics, including solvolysis recyclability and environmental degradability.
We are seeking a commercially focused co-founder to partner with our technical founder and lead all commercial activities from company formation through Series A and beyond. This is a ground-floor opportunity to shape a business addressing the urgent challenge of plastic circularity.
Our Approach
We are developing an electrified, contaminant tolerant process capable of transforming polyolefin waste into chemicals that will form the basis of a new materials platform. Initially, we will be focusing on developing new packaging materials to tackle the global plastic waste problem. Over time, we anticipate the technology will have applications in various other sectors. It is our hope that this technology will act as a global polyolefin sink — enabling global recovery and reuse of polyolefins. The developed materials will be simpler to recycle than current technologies, and will have environmental compatbillity designed in from day one.
In order for us to make our vision real we are seeking to recruit a commercially focused cofounder to support our near-term commercial objectives.
The Role
As Commercial Co-Founder, you will own the commercial strategy and execution for the venture. Working alongside the technical founder, you will be responsible for validating market demand, building customer and supplier relationships, navigating regulatory pathways, and securing the commercial proof points required to raise successive funding rounds.
This is a hands-on role. In the early stages, you will personally conduct customer interviews, negotiate agreements, and build financial models. As the company grows, you will recruit and lead a commercial team.
Requirements
Who We're Looking For
Must-Have Experience (one of the following core tracks):
- Previous experience in a startup or early-stage company environment
- A track record in fundraising, grant writing, and grant management
- Exposure to regulatory processes for chemicals or materials, and a strong network across relevant industries such as plastics, packaging, or waste management
Essential Capabilities:
- Lead customer discovery to identify and prioritise target markets, building relationships from initial outreach through to binding offtake agreements, and refining value proposition based on market feedback
- Identify and secure feedstock supply partnerships with waste management companies, and develop strategic partnerships with distributors, compounders, and brand owners
- Co-develop and maintain techno-economic models and pricing strategy with the founding team, and lead commercial negotiations and contract structuring
- Lead fundraising efforts with commercial due diligence materials, building investor relationships and communicating commercial progress
- Contribute to overall company strategy as a member of the founding team
- Demonstrated B2B sales and business development experience, ideally in materials, chemicals, or related industrial sectors, with a track record from cold outreach to signed agreements
- Strong negotiation skills, financial literacy including the ability to build and interrogate financial models, and experience fundraising from venture capital and grants
- Comfort making decisions with incomplete information and prioritising opportunities with scarce resources
- Understanding of chemicals, polymers, or materials industry dynamics
- Willingness to operate across strategic and administrative tasks, with resilience, strong self-direction, and ability to thrive in uncertain environments
- Excellent communication skills with the ability to build credibility across diverse stakeholders, present to senior executives and investors, and work collaboratively with a technical co-founder
- Ability to recruit and lead team members as the company grows, with a desire to build and scale an organisation aligned with company mission and values
Valuable “Nice-to-Haves”:
- Experience managing customer application testing programmes, developing go-to-market strategy, and assessing partnership structures including distribution, licensing, and joint development
- Experience building quality and customer service systems, and recruiting commercial team members
- Ability to scope and manage regulatory pathways, coordinate with consultants and certification bodies, and substantiate environmental claims
- Experience identifying and securing grant funding, and developing long-term expansion strategy
- Familiarity with the waste market, circular economy trends in plastics, recycling value chains, and regulatory frameworks for chemicals and materials
Benefits
By joining DSV, you will be part of a team of operators who have founded companies and led the translation of science at some of the most respected universities, charities, funds, and government agencies. Here’s what we offer:
- Access to optimised, purpose-built, proprietary tools, resources, and processes to help create high-impact ventures from scratch;
- Opportunity area-specific know-how from our network of Partners and Advisors;
- Up to £250k in investment to incorporate the new venture and develop early proof-of-concept data;
- Guaranteed income of £4,166 per month paid as a fixed consultancy fee until the company is launched and the pre-seed investment is secured;
- Majority equity stake in the new company between you and your co-founder(s);
- Continuous post-spinout support, including fundraising, commercial partnerships, recruitment, and team-building;
- Collaborative support from dozens of Founders currently at DSV across sectors.
About DSV
Deep Science Ventures (DSV) is on a mission to create a future in which both humans and the planet can thrive. We use our unique venture creation process to create, spin-out, and invest in science companies, combining available scientific knowledge and founder-type scientists into high-impact ventures. Operating in four sectors—Pharmaceuticals, Climate, Agriculture, and Computation—we tackle the challenges defining these areas by taking a first principles approach and partnering with leading institutions.