Head of Portfolio

This is a full-time role but we offer a range of flexible working arrangements and encourage our people to take advantage of them. Many do.

We are recruiting for a Head of Portfolio. Mission Studio is creating the future of mission-driven tech startups. We're tackling the UK's toughest social challenges – from net zero to obesity – by building commercially successful businesses. We have a great team of ex-founders, venture designers, and experienced operators and are looking for an exceptional senior operator to form a core part of our team.

As Head of Portfolio, you will play a critical leadership role across the studio and its portfolio of early-stage, mission-driven tech startups. Drawing on your startup experience, you will work closely with founders, the studio team and external partners to support our ventures through fundraising, scaling and post-spinout growth. The highly varied ups and downs of startup life will be familiar to you, and you will help others navigate that. You will also help Mission Studio build the investment and portfolio management systems and relationships needed to scale a world-class venture studio.

This is a varied role for someone who thrives in fast-moving startup and investment environments, enjoys solving problems across multiple domains, and wants to help build ambitious mission-driven tech companies from the ground up.

Who You Are

• Significant startup and operational experience: You have worked at least 3 years at a senior level within a startup while scaling from 0-1 and ideally 1-100 (e.g. founder, COO, CCO, CMO, etc.). You have direct exposure to the realities of scaling early-stage ventures, including fundraising, hiring, product and commercial scaling, investor management and partnerships.
• Investment analysis and portfolio management: You have an understanding of early-stage investing, portfolio management and venture and data analysis, with an ability to translate portfolio data and insight into decision-making. You do not need to come from a traditional VC or finance background, but you should understand how high-growth venture portfolios operate and how investors think about company progress, risk and potential, and should have the quantitative skills to quickly and easily track, synthesise and gut-check venture KPIs on an ongoing basis.
• An operator at heart: You are execution-focused and adept at building systems, improving processes and getting your hands dirty in scaling a studio.
• Relationship building and ecosystem knowledge: You excel at building relationships and will be able to represent the studio externally with credibility across startups, investors, founders, operators and the wider innovation ecosystem. Internally you will be able to quickly build trust with senior Nesta leaders, generating support for and momentum around our ventures.
• Fundraising and investor relations: You should also have specific experience with fundraising from the startup side – structuring effective pitches, coaching pitch presentations, investor outreach and events, etc.
• Experience supporting a varied portfolio: You will have prior experience working across multiple ventures, founders or projects simultaneously, rapidly prioritising and reprioritising support, helping solve problems and creating value.

Core competencies

• Operator mindset: You are proactive, pragmatic and low ego. You spot gaps, pick things up without being asked and help keep momentum moving across complicated environments.
• Leadership and ownership: You bring seniority, judgement and calm leadership to fast-moving, high-intensity environments. You are comfortable taking ownership, driving alignment and helping teams move forward through ambiguity and complexity.
• Founder-centric: You genuinely enjoy supporting founders and helping ambitious people succeed. You understand the pressures of early-stage company-building and can balance support, challenge and practical advice.
• Analytical rigour: You bring rigour to your analysis of companies and situations, cutting to the heart of the matter and surfacing and resolving options with structure and clarity.
• Effective communication: You are able to synthesise complex situations into clear and simple messages that land, and are adept at tailoring your communication style to your audience.
• Mission-driven: You’re motivated by Nesta’s missions and by the opportunity to build commercially successful ventures that can create meaningful social impact at scale.

What You’ll Do

• Lead portfolio and post-spinout venture support: Own and evolve the studio’s support offer for portfolio ventures after they spin out from the studio, working closely with founders on fundraising, hiring, commercial development, operational challenges and scaling.
• Build and lead the ‘Accelerate’ phase: (the first 6 months after spinning out of the studio). Lead the studio’s structured post-Build support programme for newly spun-out ventures, ensuring founders receive high-quality support during the critical first 6 months outside the studio.
• Support fundraising and investor readiness: Support ventures through fundraising preparation, investor materials, introductions, relationship management and strategic fundraising support.
• Lead portfolio insight, reporting and investment support: Coordinate portfolio reviews, reporting, impact tracking and portfolio insight generation. Support investment processes including follow-on investment memos, portfolio analysis and internal Investment Committee preparation.
• Build external networks and ecosystem relationships: Develop and maintain relationships across investors, founders, operators, advisers and other ecosystem partners to support portfolio ventures and strengthen the studio’s external position.
• Act as a senior operational leader within the studio: Work closely with the Director and leadership team to help coordinate priorities, champion team culture, keep building the studio, unblock issues and provide senior leadership leverage across a fast-moving environment.
• Help scale the studio operating model and shape the future of Mission Studio: Be a core part of the studio’s next phase of growth. As part of the studio leadership team, help build the infrastructure and help shape the strategy that will enable the studio to thrive through the next phase of growth.

What We Offer

• Location: At least 2 days a week at our Thames-side, Blackfriars office in London with the freedom to work remotely on other days.
• Perks: Competitive salary, TBC depending on experience, and a benefits package that cares for you beyond the office. The benefits include private medical insurance, dental insurance, the ability to buy and sell annual leave, eyecare vouchers and more.
• Start Date: ASAP

Legal and EEO Statements

At Nesta, we believe that a diverse workforce leads to an organisation that is more innovative, more creative and gets better results. We want our workforce to represent the diversity of the people and communities we serve. We also want our workplace to be one where different experiences, expertise and perspectives are valued, and where everyone is encouraged to grow and develop.

This means that when we are recruiting, we actively seek to reach a diverse pool of candidates. It also means that we are happy to consider any reasonable adjustments that potential employees may need to in order to be successful.

We recognise the importance of a good balance between work and home life, so we do everything we can to accommodate flexible working, including working from home, compressed or part-time hours, job shares and other arrangements.