Senior Venture Associate

Sustainable Ventures; Manchester; Hybrid; GBP 44,000 - 49,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

25 days holiday plus bank holidays

Monthly wellness day

Enhanced pension scheme

Job summary

Sustainable Ventures in Manchester is seeking a passionate individual to join their Venture Support Team. This role involves aiding startups and SMEs in developing sustainable solutions, with responsibilities ranging from assessing business models to providing advisory services. Ideal candidates will have over 5 years of experience in the sustainability sector and possess significant project management skills.

Flexible working, a competitive salary of £44,000 – £49,000 annually, and a strong focus on diversity make this position attractive. Join us in building impactful climate tech solutions!

Qualifications

• 5+ years’ relevant professional experience.
• Knowledge/experience in sustainability sector.
• Strong project management skills.

Responsibilities

• Develop start-up business models and market opportunities.
• Create support plans for SMEs.
• Provide advisory support across various business topics.

Skills

Sustainability knowledge

Business planning

Project management

Client-facing skills

Commercial skill set

Education

Undergraduate degree in business, technology or sustainability

Postgraduate qualification in business, economics, technology or sustainability

Job description

Salary

£44,000 - £49,000 per annum

Diversity and Inclusion

We’re an equal opportunity employer, dedicated to building a diverse workforce and fostering an inclusive environment, where everyone can thrive and be their authentic selves at work. We recognise that the climate crisis intersects with social and inclusion issues, and we’re particularly eager to receive applications from individuals who bring diverse perspectives, including people of colour, the LGBTQ+ community, people with disabilities, neurodivergent individuals, parents, carers, and those from lower socio-economic backgrounds. We also value different experiences and encourage applicants whose backgrounds may not exactly match the criteria in the job description to apply.

About The Role

Our team is growing and we’re looking for a purpose-driven, passionate individual to join the Venture Support Team, to help start‑ups, SMEs and corporations develop solutions in response to resource and sustainability challenges. Our support works to progress technology development and commercial exploitation through several core areas: venture development, delivery of start‑up/SME programmes, accelerators, special projects and corporate innovation programmes.

Key Responsibilities

• Understanding, assessing and developing start‑up business models and market opportunities;
• Creating support plans and development roadmaps for SMEs we are working with to prioritise the most relevant support to be provided;
• Providing advisory support to start‑ups/SMEs across a broad range of business topics including but not limited to: review and input to business plans, organisational structure and team, investor pitch packs and investment readiness, advice on financial models, strategy and market placement, commercial pilot and trial design;
• For Manchester focused programmes, coordinating the integrated delivery of advisory and commercialisation support services across all delivery partners to ensure a seamless service;
• Preparing and presenting webinars, workshops, events and clinics on a broad range of business topics;
• Representing the company at events, panels, market visits; and
• Acting as a commercialisation advisor across our range of programmes and contributing to bid applications for partner organisations.

Programme Management

• Lead the end‑to‑end management of the new Manchester‑based programme of business and commercialisation support, serving as the primary point of contact for SV within the programme consortium;
• Working across the Sustainable Ventures Group on assigned projects and programmes, ensuring that time, quality and budget parameters are met;
• Proactively nurturing and managing collaborative relationships with the Programme Lead and all external delivery partners;
• Connecting and building our community of sustainably focused businesses;
• Building relationships with designated partners and SMEs, capturing relevant information within the Sustainable Venture’s CRM system, identifying and executing opportunities (directly or through referrals to relevant team members) for further revenue generation;
• Ensuring compliance and maintaining required programme documentation such as impact surveys.

Qualifications

• 5+ years’ relevant professional experience;
• Knowledge and/or experience of the sustainability sector, and an understanding of technological and commercial innovation – this could be directly related to your previous roles or something that you have pursued outside of the office;
• A commercial skill set – business planning, financial modelling, product R&D, market research, market analysis/characterisation, customer proposition testing, go‑to‑market strategy, fundraising or related experience;
• A project management skill set – experience of planning and delivering projects on time and within budget, event management, effective communication, stakeholder engagement and peer leadership abilities;
• Demonstrable experience in undertaking client‑facing work – producing high‑quality outputs to time/budget/quality objectives;
• Proven success in meeting revenue/business development targets; and
• Proven organisational skills – for managing multiple clients simultaneously, co‑ordinating deliverables and meeting deadlines.

Desirable

• An undergraduate degree in business, technology or sustainability‑related field;
• A postgraduate qualification in business, economics, technology or sustainability;
• Experience in venture development and/or sustainability innovation;
• Motivation to learn about other Sustainable Ventures functions, for example investment, product design and venture development.

Additional Details

• Hours: 40 hours per week, flexible working with minimum 3 days in the office;
• Salary: £44,000 – £49,000 per annum;
• Location: Manchester Workspace.

Benefits

• 25 days holiday plus bank holidays;
• Monthly wellness day (time to rest & recharge);
• Enhanced pension scheme.

Recruitment Process

• 30 min phone screening interview;
• Two‑stage, in‑person interview.

About Sustainable Ventures

We are Europe’s leading growth partner for climate tech. With 2025 seeing our footprint expand to 8 UK city‑regions, we are rapidly scaling to drive systemic change across the UK and into Europe. Having already achieved our target of supporting 1,000 startups by 2025, we are now on a mission to build the world’s most impactful climate tech ecosystem by 2030, embedding our proven model to support climate startups from idea to exit.

Our impact on the planet’s climate and its natural resources is being felt more acutely and by more people than ever before. It is clear that significant changes must be made to achieve the targets set by the IPCC and reaching Net Zero by 2050 remains the world’s greatest challenge.

Since 2011, we have been at the forefront of this fight, bridging the gap between innovative ideas and market‑ready solutions by providing integrated access to funding, expert services, and a thriving community of peers and partners.