Founder in Residence
Deep Science Ventures
Founder in Residence
Deep Science Ventures
Science-driven venture creation across sectors
Deep Science Ventures · United Kingdom (Remote) · Full-time · Posted 2026-06-01
Workplace: remote
Department: Climate
Join us to build: we’re seeking entrepreneurially-minded individuals with deep technical and commercial domain expertise, who are eager to solve urgent unmet challenges through venture building. This role offers a unique opportunity to work at the forefront of energy infrastructure, building a new company that dramatically reduces the cost of high-voltage transmission construction through novel approaches to fragmentation and modularity.
The role is full-time, remote initially until venture incorporation and spin-out (circa Q4 2027), location TBD.
The Problem Worth Solving
Across the UK, US and Europe, electricity transmission networks face an unprecedented construction challenge. Decarbonisation targets and the electrification of heat, transport, and industry require a dramatic expansion of high-voltage overhead lines - yet the construction methods used to build transmission towers have barely changed in half a century. Lattice steel towers are fabricated in large sections, transported by heavy goods vehicles and erected using mobile cranes that can cost £300K-£750K per project mobilisation. Foundations are over-designed because site-specific geotechnical data is too expensive to gather at scale.
Most cost-reduction efforts remain anchored in incremental optimisation: slightly lighter steelwork, marginally faster crane cycles. These leave the fundamental cost structure intact. Mass-dependent items - steel, concrete, transport, cranage and installation labour - still account for 35-45% of total line CAPEX. For transmission operators facing the scale of the UK's ASTI programme, or equivalent US and European grid expansion, incremental savings are not enough.
The Opportunity
We believe one of the most promising directions is fragmentation and modularity: decomposing transmission towers into standardised, factory-produced modules - small enough for conventional transport, light enough to assemble without heavy plant, designed for rapid field connection by semi-skilled labour. This approach has the potential to address not only the direct costs of tower erection and foundation installation, but the cascading cost drivers that inflate transmission project budgets: crane mobilisation, road upgrades for heavy transport, weather-dependent construction windows, skilled labour shortages and field operations risk premiums.
The commercial space remains wide open. Existing tower manufacturers and EPC contractors are optimised for the current paradigm and face strong institutional incentives to preserve it. Transmission owners are under acute regulatory and political pressure to build faster and cheaper but lack internal innovation capacity to drive a paradigm shift. The UK's ASTI programme alone requires £20B+ of new overhead line construction over the coming decade. Similar build-out pressures exist across the US and Europe.
Ultimately, the opportunity isn't to build a better transmission tower - it's to reinvent how transmission infrastructure gets built, so grids can expand an order of magnitude faster and at dramatically lower cost. It's plausible to think about building a construction productivity company for high-voltage transmission, with the wedge being fragmentation/modularity of towers and foundations.
Working in partnership with a Major Transatlantic Utilities Company
One of the hardest parts of building an infrastructure company is securing meaningful industry access. We've already partnered with one of the world's largest transmission owners to back this opportunity. This partnership leverages their deep domain access and position as one of the world’s largest transmission owners to provide founders with unparalleled market insight and a direct route to first customers.
The Role
You will join DSV’s venture creation programme as a Founder-in-Residence and work closely with the DSV and the Partner’s team to co-found a new company. During the programme you will critically evaluate, refine, challenge and extend existing scoping work:
Preparation for Investment Committee (IC) will involve fulfilling our investment criteria, recruiting advisory and co-founding team members, and parallel fundraising for additional expansion funds.
Assuming success at IC, you will receive pre-seed investment and spinout the company in Q4 2027. You and your co-founders will own a significant stake in the business and continue receiving support post-spinout.
What We're Looking For
Essential - engineering depth i.e.:
You have deep engineering expertise in designing, analysing or deploying complex structural systems. This will typically come from civil, structural or mechanical engineering, but we are equally interested in adjacent disciplines where similar engineering challenges arise (e.g. aerospace structures, offshore engineering, deployable structures, defence, advanced manufacturing or robotics).
You have genuine hands-on depth in at least one of:
If your expertise sits outside traditional transmission engineering but you've solved comparable challenges in structural systems, modular construction, deployable infrastructure, heavy lifting, advanced manufacturing, aerospace, offshore or defence, we'd strongly encourage you to apply and tell us why your experience transfers.
Strongly preferred - translational execution e.g.:
Nice to have - commercial experience e.g.:
Above all, we're looking for systems thinkers. We're less interested in incremental optimisation of existing transmission infrastructure, and more interested in engineers who naturally rethink how complex systems are designed, manufactured and deployed. If you've fundamentally changed how something gets built, assembled or installed - even outside the transmission industry - we'd love to hear from you.
Our Offer
By joining DSV, you’ll be joining a team of operators who have founded companies and led translation of science at some of the most respected universities, charities, funds and government agencies. 2/3 of the team have founded or led a company at C-suite and 65% have a PhD. Our team dedicate several hours every week to each Founder or founding team to provide tailored guidance, resources and feedback covering every aspect of what it takes to successfully launch a new venture from both the tech and commercial perspectives:
About DSV
Deep Science Ventures (DSV) is on a mission to create a future in which both humans and the planet can thrive. We use our unique venture creation process to create, spin-out, and invest in science companies, combining available scientific knowledge and founder-type scientists into high-impact ventures. Operating in four sectors - Pharmaceuticals, Climate, Agriculture, and Computation - we tackle the challenges defining these areas by taking a first principles approach and partnering with leading institutions.
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Science-driven venture creation across sectors
Deep Science Ventures builds new companies by turning scientific knowledge into startup ventures. It combines scientist-founders with existing expertise to create high-impact businesses in Pharmaceuticals, Climate, Agriculture, and Computation. The process centers on a first-principles, evidence-based approach and close partnerships with top institutions to translate research into real-world solutions. Unlike typical investors or incubators, it acts as a venture creator that co-develops ideas, forms teams, and guides the whole company-building journey from lab concepts to market-ready ventures. The goal is to enable breakthroughs that help humanity and the planet thrive by addressing major challenges across its four sectors.
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