<h3>Join as a Founder in Residence in Climate</h3><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>The role is full-time, remote initially until venture incorporation and spin-out (circa Q1 2026). </p><p></p><h3>The Opportunity</h3><p>The global olefins market - ethylene and propylene - underpins most of the world’s plastics and chemicals, worth over $300B annually. Today, nearly all of it is made by cracking fossil hydrocarbons, tying the industry to volatile feedstock prices, rising CO₂ emissions, and tightening policy pressures. At the same time, 400M+ tonnes of plastic waste are generated annually, most of it either landfilled or down-cycled.</p><p>We are creating a new venture that flips this equation: directly converting waste plastics into high-value olefins with breakthrough energy efficiency and yields. By skipping two major steps of conventional chemical recycling, our process targets delivery of propylene and ethylene at costs competitive with fossil-derived routes, while solving the industry’s most pressing waste and carbon challenges.</p><p></p><h3>Our Approach</h3><p>We are developing the first commercial-scale plastic cracker capable of turning mixed polyolefin waste into a high-purity olefin gas stream with &gt;65% yield at ~50% of the energy input of incumbent processes. Compared to pyrolysis + steam cracking, our process targets 3× the olefin recovery per ton of waste plastic.</p><p>Our near-term commercialisation objectives:</p><ul> <li>Secure feedstock supply agreements to support 90,000 tonnes/year, diversified across at least five sources;</li> <li>Secure off-take agreements with 2+ petrochemical refiners;</li> <li>Establish a JV partnership with at least one major petrochemical company to accelerate scale-up and market entry;</li> <li>Demonstrate a credible cost trajectory to bring the minimum selling price of propylene to parity with fossil-derived alternatives, scaling operations to at least 10 kg/h.</li> </ul><p>The incoming Co-Founder will lead this commercialisation journey - securing customers, partners, and investors - while positioning the company as the disruptor in circular olefins.</p><p></p><h3>The Role</h3><p>The primary focus of the incoming Co-Founder will therefore be centred around:</p><ul> <li>Leading early business development and commercialisation de-risking incl. securing off-take, feedstock, and JV agreements with major petrochemical players;</li> <li>Owning the go-to-market strategy, navigating regional chemical supply chain dynamics (US vs EU vs Asia) and positioning the company where economics and policy align;</li> <li>Driving fundraising from top-tier venture capital and strategic investors, leading the company from pre-seed to a successful Series A and beyond.</li> </ul><p><strong>Requirements</strong></p><h3>Who We're Looking For</h3><p><strong>Must-Have Experience (one of the following core tracks):</strong></p><ul> <li>Experience in the olefins/petrochemicals industry incl. off-take agreements, JV negotiations, and/or large-scale feedstock supply deals;</li> <li>OR experience in the chemical recycling / waste plastics industry, with proven experience partnering with major petrochemical companies.</li> </ul><p><strong>Essential Capabilities:</strong></p><ul> <li>Deep understanding of petrochemical market dynamics: feedstock cost curves, regional trends, plant shutdowns/new builds, and long-term olefins demand growth;</li> <li>Proven track record of negotiating and closing commercial agreements (off-takes, feedstock contracts, JVs, licensing);</li> <li>Experience in fundraising from early-stage investors (VC) and/or strategic investors, ideally at Seed or Series A;</li> <li>Strong leadership credentials: ability to recruit talent, inspire cross-functional teams, and manage complex industrial partnerships;</li> <li>Entrepreneurial drive and resilience: ability to navigate early-stage uncertainty and push through to venture inflection points.</li> </ul><p><strong>Valuable “Nice-to-Haves”:</strong></p><ul> <li>Previous founder/CEO experience, ideally with a successful fundraise, exit, or JV spin-out;</li> <li>Technical familiarity with extrusion and polymer processing (underpinning the business’s value proposition and engage credibly with partners);</li> <li>Previous exposure to chemical recycling technologies (pyrolysis, depolymerisation, gasification) and their limitations;</li> <li>Strong network across both strategic corporates and VC investors in climate/deeptech;</li> <li>PhD or equivalent R&amp;D experience in process/industrial engineering is a plus, but not required.</li> </ul><p><strong>Benefits</strong></p><p>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:</p><ul> <li>Access to optimised, purpose-built, proprietary tools, resources, and processes to help create high-impact ventures from scratch;</li> <li>Opportunity area-specific know-how from our network of Partners and Advisors;</li> <li>Up to £250k in investment to incorporate the new venture and develop early proof-of-concept data;</li> <li>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;</li> <li>Majority equity stake in the new company between you and your co-founder(s);</li> <li>Continuous post-spinout support, including fundraising, commercial partnerships, recruitment, and team-building;</li> <li>Collaborative support from dozens of Founders currently at DSV across sectors.</li> </ul><p></p><h3>About DSV</h3><p>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.</p>

<p>We're creating a future in which humanity and the planet can thrive. We are focused on four key outcomes: restorative cultivation, scaling intelligence, reversing global heating and curative therapeutics. Our venture creation methodology results in high-quality, de-risked companies, led by teams with deep technical and commercial experience.</p>

Co-Founder in Residence, Turning Plastic Waste into Circular Olefins

<h3>Join as a Founder in Residence in Climate</h3><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>The role is full-time, remote initially until venture incorporation and spin-out (circa Q1 2026). </p><p></p><h3>The Opportunity</h3><p>The global olefins market - ethylene and propylene - underpins most of the world’s plastics and chemicals, worth over $300B annually. Today, nearly all of it is made by cracking fossil hydrocarbons, tying the industry to volatile feedstock prices, rising CO₂ emissions, and tightening policy pressures. At the same time, 400M+ tonnes of plastic waste are generated annually, most of it either landfilled or down-cycled.</p><p>We are creating a new venture that flips this equation: directly converting waste plastics into high-value olefins with breakthrough energy efficiency and yields. By skipping two major steps of conventional chemical recycling, our process targets delivery of propylene and ethylene at costs competitive with fossil-derived routes, while solving the industry’s most pressing waste and carbon challenges.</p><p></p><h3>Our Approach</h3><p>We are developing the first commercial-scale plastic cracker capable of turning mixed polyolefin waste into a high-purity olefin gas stream with &gt;65% yield at ~50% of the energy input of incumbent processes. Compared to pyrolysis + steam cracking, our process targets 3× the olefin recovery per ton of waste plastic.</p><p>Our near-term commercialisation objectives:</p><ul> <li>Secure feedstock supply agreements to support 90,000 tonnes/year, diversified across at least five sources;</li> <li>Secure off-take agreements with 2+ petrochemical refiners;</li> <li>Establish a JV partnership with at least one major petrochemical company to accelerate scale-up and market entry;</li> <li>Demonstrate a credible cost trajectory to bring the minimum selling price of propylene to parity with fossil-derived alternatives, scaling operations to at least 10 kg/h.</li> </ul><p>The incoming Co-Founder will lead this commercialisation journey - securing customers, partners, and investors - while positioning the company as the disruptor in circular olefins.</p><p></p><h3>The Role</h3><p>The primary focus of the incoming Co-Founder will therefore be centred around:</p><ul> <li>Leading early business development and commercialisation de-risking incl. securing off-take, feedstock, and JV agreements with major petrochemical players;</li> <li>Owning the go-to-market strategy, navigating regional chemical supply chain dynamics (US vs EU vs Asia) and positioning the company where economics and policy align;</li> <li>Driving fundraising from top-tier venture capital and strategic investors, leading the company from pre-seed to a successful Series A and beyond.</li> </ul><p><strong>Requirements</strong></p><h3>Who We're Looking For</h3><p><strong>Must-Have Experience (one of the following core tracks):</strong></p><ul> <li>Experience in the olefins/petrochemicals industry incl. off-take agreements, JV negotiations, and/or large-scale feedstock supply deals;</li> <li>OR experience in the chemical recycling / waste plastics industry, with proven experience partnering with major petrochemical companies.</li> </ul><p><strong>Essential Capabilities:</strong></p><ul> <li>Deep understanding of petrochemical market dynamics: feedstock cost curves, regional trends, plant shutdowns/new builds, and long-term olefins demand growth;</li> <li>Proven track record of negotiating and closing commercial agreements (off-takes, feedstock contracts, JVs, licensing);</li> <li>Experience in fundraising from early-stage investors (VC) and/or strategic investors, ideally at Seed or Series A;</li> <li>Strong leadership credentials: ability to recruit talent, inspire cross-functional teams, and manage complex industrial partnerships;</li> <li>Entrepreneurial drive and resilience: ability to navigate early-stage uncertainty and push through to venture inflection points.</li> </ul><p><strong>Valuable “Nice-to-Haves”:</strong></p><ul> <li>Previous founder/CEO experience, ideally with a successful fundraise, exit, or JV spin-out;</li> <li>Technical familiarity with extrusion and polymer processing (underpinning the business’s value proposition and engage credibly with partners);</li> <li>Previous exposure to chemical recycling technologies (pyrolysis, depolymerisation, gasification) and their limitations;</li> <li>Strong network across both strategic corporates and VC investors in climate/deeptech;</li> <li>PhD or equivalent R&amp;D experience in process/industrial engineering is a plus, but not required.</li> </ul><p><strong>Benefits</strong></p><p>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:</p><ul> <li>Access to optimised, purpose-built, proprietary tools, resources, and processes to help create high-impact ventures from scratch;</li> <li>Opportunity area-specific know-how from our network of Partners and Advisors;</li> <li>Up to £250k in investment to incorporate the new venture and develop early proof-of-concept data;</li> <li>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;</li> <li>Majority equity stake in the new company between&nbsp;you and your co-founder(s);</li> <li>Continuous post-spinout support, including fundraising, commercial partnerships, recruitment, and team-building;</li> <li>Collaborative support from dozens of Founders currently at DSV across sectors.</li> </ul><p></p><h3>About DSV</h3><p>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.</p>

Co-Founder in Residence, Turning Plastic Waste into Circular Olefins

About the Job

About the Company

Deep Science Ventures

Similar Jobs

Operations Scale-Up Lead - Industrialization & Production (gn) @ Climate Tech Start-Up, Munich

Operations Scale-Up Lead - Industrialization & Production (gn) @ Climate Tech Start-Up, Munich

Polymer Engineer

Polymer Engineer

Materials Engineer Spring 2026 Co-op

Materials Engineer Spring 2026 Co-op

Director of Equipment Innovation

Director of Equipment Innovation

Chemist Intern

Chemist Intern

Research Analyst - Chemicals

Research Analyst - Chemicals

Sustainability Research Analyst

Sustainability Research Analyst

Manufacturing Innovation Engineer

Manufacturing Innovation Engineer

Senior Process Engineer

Senior Process EngineerNew

CHEMICAL / MATERIALS ENGINEER

CHEMICAL / MATERIALS ENGINEERNew