Chief Executive Officer CEO

Start date: ASAP (latest by end of Q1 2026)

Commitment: Full-time

Location: London, UK

Build and lead a climate infrastructure business with real-world, local impact

This is a rare opportunity to join at the startup phase and lead the build-out of a real, regulated climate infrastructure business at the point where cities, energy systems, and technology converge.

The company operates at the intersection of urban waste management, energy generation, and next-generation climate infrastructure, with a clear focus on delivery rather than theory.

Beginning with a first operational site in London, the model is designed for replication across global cities facing the same systemic challenges combining commercial viability with measurable environmental and civic impact.

The founding team brings deep technical and domain expertise and remains actively involved in the business. We are now seeking a full-time CEO to join the leadership team and take overall responsibility for execution, integration, and delivery, shaping the company from its earliest phase and leading it from first capital to first live site.

This is a confidential search. Further details about the company will be shared at later stages of the process.

The Opportunity

This is a true operating CEO role, not an advisory or oversight position.

You will be working with a committed founder team and assume overall operational leadership, coordinating and directing execution across fundraising, regulatory engagement, partnerships, and site delivery.

Founders with operational responsibilities will continue to lead in their domains and operate as part of the leadership team under the CEO’s execution mandate.

What You Will Own

You will be responsible for end-to-end execution of the business plan: leading pre-seed and seed fundraising, acting as the primary external representative with investors, regulators, and partners, aligning founder-led functions into a coherent operating cadence, and delivering physical infrastructure on the ground. Success is measured in capital raised, permits secured, teams aligned, and assets delivered.

Working with the Founders

This role is built on trust, transparency, and shared ambition. Strategic decisions are made collaboratively; operational execution is CEO-led. It suits a leader who can amplify strong founders, not replace them. Ideal for someone comfortable leading peers within a professionalised structure. Founders remain active contributors and leaders in their areas of expertise

Who This Is For

This role is well suited to someone who:

• Has held a senior leadership role in a startup or has scaled an early-stage business
• Is comfortable leading peers and founders in a professionalised structure
• Thrives in regulated, asset-heavy environments
• Can balance authority with collaboration
• Seeks long-term ownership and meaningful impact
• Enjoys improving systems and processes to drive business outcomes
• Thinks in terms of end-to-end systems and integrating circular models
• Moves comfortably between strategic, big-picture thinking and hands-on execution
• Brings credibility with investors, partners, and public-sector stakeholders

Direct experience in waste management, renewable energy, or anaerobic digestion, biotechnology is welcome but not required. Strategic judgement, execution capability, and leadership maturity matter more than exact domain fit.

The Purpose We Are Building Upon

Cities generate enormous amounts of food waste every day, yet the systems managing it are outdated, inefficient, and emission-heavy.

Our purpose is to build better local infrastructure, systems that are reliable, regulated, and commercially viable, and that turn an unavoidable urban problem into energy and valuable resources.

This is not about awareness or offsets.

It is about making core city systems work better.

Compensation & Structure

This is a pre-funding, pre-revenue CEO role and will initially be compensated through equity, followed by a salary once funded.

The CEO will be granted a founding-level equity stake, expected to be in the range of c. 8–10% on a fully diluted basis, reflecting:

• Full-time commitment
• Executive authority
• Responsibility for fundraising and company build-out
• 
  

Equity will be subject to standard UK venture capital vesting provisions, including a one-year cliff.

Upon completion of the company’s first institutional funding round, the role will transition to an attractive cash compensation package reflective of stage, market conditions, and funding size, alongside ongoing equity participation.

Location

This role requires you to be based in London, with regular in-person engagement across operations, investors, partners, and regulators.

Why This Role Is Different

• A tangible, regulated infrastructure business with real-world assets, permits, and delivery milestones, this is not a slideware or concept-only venture
• A capable, engaged founder team committed to execution
• A clear operational leadership mandate for the CEO
• A defined path from funding to a live, operating site in London

If you are looking for a CEO role with purpose where you lead execution, work with a strong, diverse founder team, and build something real, we welcome a confidential conversation.

You don't meet all the role’s requirements? No problem!

We strongly encourage applications from women and underrepresented leaders. 

Research shows that women are statistically less likely than men to apply for a job if they do not perceive themselves as meeting most of the listed requirements. If you believe you can excel in this role, we would love to hear from you, even if you don’t meet every requirement listed.

Applications are open until the end of January 2026. Applications can be submitted via the linked form below:  https://plaid-octagon-478.notion.site/2d1e8f057bbd804b89dfe889733ae98d