ATUM Deep-Tech Founder

ATUM exists to support courageous founders who turn differentiating tech into world-changing companies that solve critical challenges in Energy, Medtech and Advanced Manufacturing. We bring capital, operational muscle and partners from academia, industry, VC, and government who co-invest in every build.

ATUM build ventures from scratch by helping researchers, corporates and founders turn breakthrough research into venture-scale companies, backing them with capital, corporate networks, and the operational guidance to navigate everything from technical validation and grants to go-to-market and growth.

Our Deep Tech Venture Building Programme leads the end‑to‑end creation of new startups from breakthrough technologies. We identify research‑backed innovations, validate them with our scientific council, assemble complementary founder teams and support these teams towards investment readiness and launch.

We are looking for future ATUM Founders to take this next wave of high-impact technologies out into the world. As a Technical Founder, you'll lead the technological vision, development and innovation of a new start up from day one. You'll pair with a Commercial Founder to build a defensible product based on breakthrough technology, and set the foundations for scale & impact.

Whether you're a PhD researcher, engineer or scientist, your deep domain knowledge will be critical in shaping a viable technical solution and achieving venture milestones.

This is not a "job." It's a founding journey. You'll share in the risk, the upside, and the impact.

You will be responsible for shaping the technical evolution of a new deep-tech startup. You'll define the technical roadmap, shape the product vision, and build the systems that bring breakthrough ideas to life, partnering with a Commercial Founder and to market-ready innovation that's primed for scale.

• Own the technical vision and architecture. Translate ambitious research or prototypes into scalable, reliable systems ready for commercialisation.
• Lead early product development. Design, build, and iterate the core technology, balancing rapid experimentation with long-term robustness and defensibility.
• Shape the venture's technical thesis. Identify what's truly hard, what's proprietary, and where the edge lies, defining how technology creates a sustainable moat.
• Collaborate across science, engineering, and business. Work with your commercial founder, researchers, and operators to align technical milestones with venture strategy.
• Recruit and lead technical talent. Build and inspire an early team capable of executing across uncertainty, from MVP builds to production systems.
• Engage the ecosystem. Represent the technical narrative to investors, partners, and collaborators, establishing credibility in both scientific and commercial domains.
• Drive innovation responsibly. Make decisions that balance speed, quality and ethical integrity as the company grows.

• Proven entrepreneurial drive - you've started something complex from scratch and seen it through (start up, business line, product, etc.).
• Deep technical expertise - typically PhD, MSc, or significant hands-on experience in a relevant field (e.g., AI/ML, biotech, robotics, cleantech, materials science, etc.).
• Ideally you'll have gained exposure through startups, research commercialisation or product engineering previously, with experience developing prototypes, models or novel IP.
• A strong builder mindset – you're motivated by experimentation, iteration, and creating from scratch. High comfort in navigating ambiguity with a strong bias for action
• Ability to be the connective tissue between complex technology and the business, constantly keeping the customer front of mind and communicating effectively
  

• Unique exposure to ATUM's deep-tech venture build approach, methodology & team
• A structured programme to de-risk venture creation in deep-tech
• Access to labs, domain experts, early adopters and funding pathways
• A true Co-founder seat at the table with equity + salary post-incorporation
• The chance to shape the future of deep-tech impact, your role and the company that you're building 
• The adventure (and challenge) of building a category-defining company from the ground up

ATUM is an equal opportunity employer and partner, whether you are exploring joining our team, our Venture Build Programme, or one of our Portfolio Companies. We welcome applicants of all backgrounds and identities, and our selection decisions are guided by our core values. If our mission resonates with you, we encourage you to apply.