Venture Builder

JR United Kingdom; Bedford; Remote; GBP 65,000 - 85,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading venture studio in the UK is seeking a Venture Builder to drive the early stages of business creation. You will operate independently, conducting user research and validating ideas, while working closely with experienced teams. The role demands strong problem-solving skills and a passion for venture building.

Qualifications

• 4-8 years of experience in early-stage startups, capable of bringing ideas to validation.
• Experience inside a venture studio, incubator, or accelerator.
• Strong ability in business case development and research methodologies.

Responsibilities

• Identify and frame new venture opportunities based on user pain points.
• Conduct user research to test desirability and feasibility.
• Create business models and prepare internal pitch materials.

Skills

Hypothesis-driven thinking

User-centric experimentation

Communication

Storytelling

Ambiguity handling

Tools

Typeform

AI assistants

No-code platforms

Job description

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Location: UK-based (Remote-first with regular London meet-ups)

Start Date: Aug/Sept 2025

About ARK Venture Studio

ARK is the venture studio of Ninety, an award-winning innovation firm. We design, validate and launch bold new ventures that sit at the intersection of digital, impact, and commercial opportunity. Our sweet spot is building pre-seed businesses in spaces often overlooked or underdeveloped, typically where customer problems are real, existing solutions fall short, and a new model or product could unlock meaningful value.

We bring a proven studio model, a deep bench of corporate and philanthropic partners, and a strong innovation heritage - but we’re still a small team. Every hire shapes our future. If you’re a strategic thinker, problem solver and early-stage operator with conviction, we want to build with you.

The Role

We’re looking for a Venture Builder to lead the earliest stages of venture creation — from insight and ideation through to validation and design readiness. You’ll gain deep exposure to how successful ventures are formed, validated, and shaped inside a high-performing studio environment

You’ll operate like a founder in residence: identifying whitespace, crafting hypotheses, testing with users, building early proof points, and preparing for the first build. You’ll collaborate with experienced builders, investors, designers, and operators, gaining hands-on experience in how ventures come to life within a well-resourced studio.

This is a hands on, high autonomy role where strategic thinking meets execution. You’ll develop the mindset, skills, and instincts needed to create ventures from the ground up - building confidence and experience in the journey from zero to one.

Responsibilities:

Venture Origination

• Spot and frame new venture opportunities aligned to user pain points and emerging trends
• Develop early problem-solution hypotheses and market insight
• Conduct rapid research and idea validation sprints

User-Led Validation

• Run qualitative and quantitative research with early adopters
• Test desirability, feasibility, and commercial potential
• Translate feedback into proposition and feature direction

Venture Shaping

• Create sharp concept narratives, lean business models, and design briefs
• Develop TAM/SAM/SOM models, unit economics, and scalable revenue strategies
• Support early branding, value propositions, and GTM strategy
• Prepare internal pitch materials and stage-gate documentation
• Work side-by-side with our product, research, design, and commercial specialists
• Bring structure to ambiguity and momentum to new ideas
• Engage constructively with partners, advisors, and stakeholders

You’ll Need:

• 4–8 years of experience across:
• Early-stage startups (founder, investor, or operator)
• Proven ability to take an idea from zero to validation
• Strong hypothesis-driven thinking and user-centric experimentation
• Excellent communication, business case development, and storytelling skills
• Comfortable in fast-paced, ambiguous environments with lean resources
• Experience inside a venture studio, incubator or accelerator
• Confident in research and customer development approaches
• Ability to map value chains, define JTBD, and explore disruptive models
• Experience with tools like Typeform, AI assistants, and other no-code or venture-building platforms

What We Value

We want people who bring sharp thinking and big heart.

You’ll thrive here if you live out our values:

• Others First – We build ventures that serve people meaningfully
• Do the Right Thing – We act with integrity, even when no one’s watching
• Smile and Laugh Often – We take the work seriously, not ourselves
• People Matter – We create space for humanity and care in how we work
• Try, Learn, Grow – We value progress over perfection and momentum over certainty

How to Apply

Send your CV and a 1-page cover letter via LinkedIn. We'd love to hear:

• Why venture building at ARK excites you
• A project or product you helped bring to life - and your role in it
• What type of problem you’re most passionate about solving

We review applications on a rolling basis.