🎯 Chief of Staff
🌍 London, N4
🏛️ 4 days in our office, 1 day working from home
🤝 Reporting to Insiya (founder, CEO)
💰 £60-70K + equity
Plastic pollution is one of the defining environmental problems of our time, and most "solutions" on the market today don't actually solve it, they just move the problem or make it marginally less bad.
Shellworks is a London-based materials science company developing Vivomer™, a new material that is premium-grade, 3-year shelf stable, and degrades completely with zero microplastics. Backed by leading investors and with major commercial partnerships already in place, we're at an inflection point: scaling from proof-of-concept to mass-market production.
We've closed our Series A and are working with some of the world's most recognised brands to replace plastic at volume. This is a rare opportunity to sit at the centre of a company that genuinely matters.
Vivomer works. What stands between us and rapid scale is now systemic: infrastructure, commercial frameworks, and policy conditions a new material category needs to thrive. This role works directly with the founders to remove those obstacles, across whatever discipline that requires.
The person we need is defined by how they operate, not by a specific background: clear on what matters, resourceful about how to move it, adaptable when the most important problem changes. Today, the focus is two commercial pillars (new markets & enterprise, and special projects) plus investor engagement, but these priorities will evolve. You'll need both financial and commercial instincts: comfortable in a data room and a customer meeting in the same week.
Identify adjacent sectors and applications where Vivomer has a compelling case.
Understand the market and co-author specific target product requirements.
Develop the strategic relationships needed to land the first significant deals.
Work with major retailers to embed Vivomer within their supplier packaging frameworks.
Create a direct commercial incentive for brands to adopt Vivomer.
Support fundraising processes - build and own the investor materials.
Manage ongoing investor relationships and leverage the investor network proactively on behalf of the business.
Own the company financial model, build scenario analyses for major commercial decisions.
Take a brief on investor and partner decks and come back with something excellent.
4-6 years across finance and commercial roles (investment banking, corporate development, or a commercial/strategy function), you know how to model, structure deals, and build a deck under pressure.
One tour in a high-growth startup (Series A to C) - you've seen how the engine room works and thrived in ambiguity.
Genuinely excited by the sustainability/materials space - you don't need to be an expert, but you need to care.
Self-directed: you take a problem, go away, and come back with a solution, not more questions.
Strong communicator, written and verbal; comfortable with founders, investors and blue-chip partners.
High tolerance for ambiguity and low tolerance for bureaucracy.
🌴 28 days holiday + statutory holidays
👶 12 weeks maternity, 6 weeks paternity, both at full pay
💚 Heka wellbeing allowance - gym, therapy, nutrition, fertility support and more
🩺 Virtual GP with same or next day appointments
🚲 Cycle to work scheme - save up to 42% via salary sacrifice
🍕 Daily catered lunch at the office
Shellworks is a design-led techbio company that creates uncompromising, compostable packaging solutions made from naturally-derived materials.
Our first material is called Vivomer, a bio-based, vegan and home compostable alternative to plastic. Working in collaboration with nature, Vivomer is made and unmade by microbes.
