Principal; Planetary Health

Can you spot the research that could power the green transition - and help turn it into a company? Are you excited about bringing some of the UK's most ambitious science to market as part of BII's partnership with ARIA? Then we might have the perfect opportunity at Bio Innovation Institute, where we are looking for a Principal to join the Planetary Health team in our Venture Creation department, based at our UK hub in London.

The Bio Innovation Institute (BII) is a non-profit foundation established by the Novo Nordisk Foundation in 2018. Its mission is to accelerate research and startups to bring forward bold solutions that improve human and planetary health. BII supports collaborative, interdisciplinary innovation across Life Sciences and Deep Tech, helping transform cutting-edge research into viable companies so that new discoveries can deliver real impact for people and society.

BII is an Activation Partner of the Advanced Research + Invention Agency (ARIA) - a partnership that gives us access to a strong pipeline of ambitious UK research and helps turn breakthrough science into companies with real-world impact.

As a Principal, you will join BII's Planetary Health team, one of three specialist teams in our Venture Creation department alongside Human Health and Quantum. In collaboration with ARIA, we will be running two acceleration programs from our London hub, helping promising UK research teams secure the expertise, networks, and capital needed to commercialize.

In this role, you will scout and assess early-stage innovation across food and agriculture, synthetic biology, advanced materials, carbon capture and utilization, energy and Power-to-X, water tech, and other technologies enabling the green transition - and support researchers and founders all the way from lab to independent spin-out. If you thrive in a dynamic environment and want your work to make a real difference, this is the opportunity for you!

• Build relationships with key academic and commercial stakeholders and institutions in the UK to establish and develop BII's venture creation support as ARIA's Activation Partner within Planetary Health
• Drive day-to-day business activities and operations together with local colleagues in London, in close collaboration with the Planetary Health team in Denmark
• Engage with ARIA, academics, and founders to identify early-stage innovation and opportunities for the acceleration programs across BII's broad planetary health remit - covering food and agriculture, synthetic biology, advanced materials, carbon capture and utilization, energy and Power-to-X, water tech, and other technologies enabling the green transition
• Support selected startups and projects in BII's acceleration programs - from application and evaluation to progress monitoring, milestone delivery, connecting to relevant networks and the transition to independent spin-outs
• Map the landscape to identify gaps and emerging trends within Planetary Health relevant to the startups and projects in the programs
• Help establish and maintain partnerships across the UK innovation ecosystem, including corporate and industrial partners, investors, and public funding bodies
• Represent BII at relevant conferences, events, and networks
• Provide support across BII, help optimize processes and approaches, and offer professional sparring and coaching to colleagues

We are looking for an experienced venture builder, motivated to bring science to life for a greener planet. Ideally, you bring:

• An MSc or PhD relevant to planetary health, e.g. biotechnology, food and agricultural science, or chemical, materials or energy engineering; an MBA or equivalent business experience is a plus
• 10+ years of relevant experience, including a demonstrated track record of supporting and/or driving the commercialization of life science or deep tech innovations, e.g. at a VC/investor, start-up, accelerator or TTO
• Experience maturing translational, early-stage, research-backed planetary health or deep tech projects towards spin-out and investment, e.g. from universities, incubators, accelerators or investors - including an understanding of scale-up, capital intensity and routes to market in industrial sectors
• The ability to evaluate and develop planetary health innovation from scientific, technical and commercial perspectives, and to distinguish research projects from venture-backable projects
• A demonstrated…