Chief of Staff

About the Job

🎯 Chief of Staff
🌍 London, N4
🏛️ 4 days in our office, 1 day working from home
🤝 Reporting to Insiya (founder, CEO)
💰 £60-75K + equity

About Shellworks

Our vision is a world where the products around you don't damage our environment or our health. At Shellworks we're making that a reality by creating high performance plastic-free materials for everyday products.

Our technology Vivomer makes the impossible possible. It's grown by bacteria using fermentation, creating a material that is stable in use but degrades in every environment. Its breakthrough is being dishwasherable and home compostable at the same time.

We've closed our Series A and are working with some of the world's most recognised brands to replace plastic at volume. We're at an inflection point: scaling from proof-of-concept to mass-market production.

The Role

This is a high leverage, high agency, high impact role. You'll work directly with our founding team on our highest-priority strategic challenges.

We're looking for a killer operator who thrives in ambiguity, moves fast, and enjoys wearing multiple hats. Underlying this you have the financial and commercial acumen to convince the CEOs of large corporates to reconsider how they think about their materials.

Where the focus is today

Finding new ways to grow Vivomer’s scale

Commercially

• 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

• Unblock objections through interventions with stakeholders in the ecosystem, whether that's retailers, co-manufacturers, or formulators

• Identify how deals have been structured here in the past and help build commercial playbooks

Financially

• Identify strategic pockets of funding that could close the gap between Vivomer and traditional petrochemical plastics

• Support upcoming fundraises, whether non-dilutive, philanthropic or equity

Beyond

Take and own a key vertical / function that you have developed as a Chief of Staff

Who you are

• 4 to 6 years across finance or commercial roles

• One tour in a high-growth startup (Series A to C), you've seen how the engine room works and thrived in ambiguity

• A first-principles thinker: you're extremely good at analysing problems and implementing creative solutions

• A hyper learner: you can become comfortable with the minutia detail of P&Ls, new technologies, or how to structure complex new deals with unfamiliar content and present back as an expert

• Excited to sit at the frontier of how materials are made in the future

• High tolerance for ambiguity, low tolerance for bureaucracy

What We Offer

🌴 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