Founders Associate -Ventures and Commercialisation

Deep Tech | Climate Tech | Advanced Materials

£50,000–£65,000 FTE, depending on experience

Full-time or part-time (minimum 3 days/week)

Initial 12-month contract, with expectation of extension subject to continued growth

Flexible/remote working, with regular meetings in London and occasional UK travel

The opportunity:

Puntios is an innovation and commercialisation consultancy working with scientists, entrepreneurs, research organisations and public-sector bodies to turn technologies and expertise into successful products, services and new ventures.

We are looking for a Founder's Associate – Ventures & Commercialisation to work directly with Puntios' founder and our network of experienced consultants.

This is an unusually broad role for an ambitious, entrepreneurial person who wants substantial responsibility and exposure to the process of taking science and technology to market.

You will work across real client and venture challenges: identifying commercial opportunities, assessing markets, talking to customers, developing business models and commercialisation strategies, supporting start-ups and helping create new ventures.

Our work has a particular focus on:

Climate tech and public-sector innovation – commercialising technologies, data and expertise arising from climate, earth observation and scientific research.

Advanced materials and deep tech – working with early-stage companies on commercial strategy, customer discovery, partnerships, scale-up, routes to market and fundraising.

You will work closely with the founder and senior colleagues, but this is not a traditional support role. We want someone who can take an ambiguous commercial problem, work out what needs to be done and take ownership of delivering it.

What you will do:

No two projects will be quite the same. Your work is likely to include:

• assessing technologies and research capabilities to identify commercial opportunities;
• researching markets, customers, competitors and emerging sectors;
• interviewing customers, scientists, founders and industry partners;
• developing value propositions, business models and routes to market;
• evaluating licensing, partnership, service and spin-out opportunities;
• developing commercialisation strategies and business cases;
• supporting climate-tech and advanced-materials start-ups with strategy, partnerships and growth;
• supporting venture creation and fundraising;
• producing high-quality presentations, reports and commercial analysis; and
• progressively taking ownership of projects and client relationships.

The central challenge is understanding unfamiliar technologies and markets quickly and working out whether, where and how they can create commercial value and real-world impact.

About you:

There is no single background we are looking for.

You might currently work in technology transfer or commercialisation; an innovation or strategy consultancy; a deep-tech or climate-tech start-up; venture building or early-stage investment; or an innovation role in the public sector or industry.

We expect you are likely to have around 3–7 years' professional experience, but we are more interested in evidence of exceptional initiative, judgement and commercial ability than years served.

You should be able to demonstrate:

• strong commercial and analytical thinking;
• curiosity and an ability to get to grips with unfamiliar technologies quickly;
• initiative and a willingness to take ownership rather than wait for instructions;
• confidence working with senior clients, scientists, founders and industry;
• an ability to bring structure and practical answers to ambiguous problems;
• excellent written and verbal communication; and
• a genuine interest in science, technology, business and entrepreneurship.

Experience in technology commercialisation, technology transfer, climate tech, deep tech, advanced materials, start-ups, innovation consultancy, venture building or investment would be particularly useful.

A scientific or engineering background would be valuable but is not essential.

Why join Puntios?

The role offers unusually broad exposure to how technologies move from science to market.

You might be assessing a new technology one week, interviewing potential customers the next, helping develop the business model for a new venture, working with the founder of an advanced-materials company or helping a public-sector organisation decide how best to commercialise its technology.

You will work directly with Puntios' founder, an experienced deep-tech entrepreneur, as well as scientists, entrepreneurs, investors, research organisations and senior innovation leaders.

We think the role could be particularly attractive to someone who ultimately wants to found, join or lead a deep-tech or climate-tech business. You will gain practical exposure to customer discovery, commercial strategy, partnerships, venture creation and fundraising while seeing multiple technologies and business models rather than working on a single start-up.

As Puntios grows, there is considerable scope for the role itself to grow – including greater responsibility for clients, projects and potentially new ventures.

We are also open to a more experienced commercialisation or venture professional looking for an interesting three- or four-day-a-week role with considerable autonomy and flexibility.

How we work:

Puntios is a small, flexible business. The role can be predominantly remote, although we expect to work together in person regularly – typically around once a week in London – with occasional travel to clients and partners elsewhere in the UK.

Working closely together is an important part of the opportunity. Initially you will spend significant time working alongside the founder and other senior colleagues, while progressively taking greater ownership and operating independently.

Contract and salary:

We expect to offer £50,000–£65,000 FTE, depending on experience.

We are open to full-time and part-time candidates, with a minimum of approximately three days per week. For an exceptional, more experienced candidate seeking a part-time position, we are happy to discuss a higher FTE-equivalent salary.

The initial appointment will be on a 12-month fixed-term contract. Our intention is to develop this into a longer-term role as Puntios grows, subject to the continuing development of our project pipeline.

Applying:

Please send a CV and a short note explaining why the role interests you.