Investment Manager, Space & Sovereign capability
The Opportunity
The Investment Manager at Main Sequence occupies a unique position at the intersection of planetary-scale challenges and frontier science. You will help manage the full investment lifecycle, from hunting for the next deep tech breakthrough to helping a founder and their team navigate the complexities of scaling a business.
Focusing on the Main Sequence Challenge areas: Decarbonise the planet, Feed 10 billion people, Bridge the gap to space, Supercharge industrial productivity, Reach humanity scale healthcare, and Enable the next intelligence leap — with a particular emphasis on Bridge the gap to space—you will work alongside our investment team to architect the next generation of industry-defining businesses.
Key Responsibilities
- Investing: Lead the sourcing and end-to-end evaluation of high-conviction opportunities. This includes driving deep technical and commercial due diligence, financial modelling, and market synthesis to validate the viability of deep tech technologies.
- Thesis Development: Collaborate with the investment team to refine and execute investment strategies. You will be responsible for staying at the cutting edge of trends in orbital infrastructure, sovereign capability (Dual-use) across all our challenge areas, and the transition to a net-zero economy.
- Ecosystem Engagement: Serve as a primary bridge between the firm and the Australian research landscape. You will cultivate and maintain deep-rooted relationships with Australian universities, research institutions, CSIRO, and innovation hubs to identify “hidden” intellectual property ready for commercialisation.
- Portfolio Support: Act as a strategic advisor and primary point of contact for portfolio companies. You will provide the guidance, network access, and operational support necessary to help founders navigate the journey from lab to global scale.
- Firm & Co-investor Relations: Support the firm’s growth by contributing to building co-investor network, and maintaining high-value relationships.
- AI Fluency: Possesses strong AI skills, with the ability to identify opportunities where automated workflows and generative tools can enhance productivity. You will help evolve how we measure impact in deep tech, ensuring our internal processes are as innovative as the companies we back.
Requirements
What we’re looking for
- Professional experience within venture capital, private equity, investment banking, high-growth startups, or other relevant fields.
- A Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in a relevant STEM field (Engineering, Physics, Chemistry) or Business/Finance.
- A "dual-language" capability—understanding both the lab and the boardroom—is essential.
- You are comfortable navigating both commercial markets and the strategic needs of national security.
- You will have a sharp focus on identifying dual-use applications across our challenge areas where commercial innovation strengthens sovereign resilience.
- Exceptional problem-solving skills with the ability to deconstruct complex business models and emergent technologies (particularly in hardware-heavy sectors like Space and Energy).
- A sophisticated communicator able to build rapport with diverse stakeholders, from PhD researchers and government officials to institutional investors.
- A genuine passion for Deep Tech and a commitment to Australia’s role in solving global challenges through sovereign innovation.
- A self-starting "venture builder" mindset. You thrive in fast-paced, high-ambiguity environments and possess the resilience required for long-horizon investing.
- Given our focus on sovereign capability, a willingness and eligibility to obtain an Australian Government Security Clearance is desirable.
If you’ve spent your nights obsessing over any of our challenge areas and your days thinking about how to bridge the gap between the lab and the launchpad, we want to hear from you.