Finance & Strategy Manager

🎯 Finance & Strategy Manager

🌍 London, N4

🏛️ 4 days in our office, 1 day working from home

🤝 Reporting to CEO, Insiya Jafferjee

💰 £ SALARY RANGE £50-60K (depending on experience) + equity

Shellworks is a London-based materials science company developing Vivomer™ - a fully compostable, microbially-derived alternative to single-use plastic. Backed by leading investors and with major commercial partnerships already in place, we're at an inflection point: scaling from proof-of-concept to mass-market production.

We've closed our Series A and are working with some of the world's most recognised brands to replace plastic at volume. This is a rare opportunity to sit at the centre of a company that genuinely matters.

The Role

We're looking for a sharp, commercially driven operator to own our strategic finance and corporate development agenda. This isn't a finance controller role - it's for someone who wants to build things: funding structures, decks, models, and relationships.

You'll work directly with the CEO and report into the leadership team, sitting alongside our Operations Lead as a core part of the commercial engine.

What You'll Do

Creative & Structured Financing

• Own the working capital and debt financing agenda - identify, negotiate and close facilities (receivables financing, grant structures, blended finance instruments)
• Lead grant applications and non-dilutive funding opportunities, including government schemes and philanthropic capital
• Build and maintain relationships with banks, lenders and alternative finance providers

Corporate Development

• Drive M&A analysis, including evaluation of potential manufacturing facility acquisitions
• Support fundraising processes - build and own the investor materials
• Manage ongoing investor relationships and leverage the investor network proactively on behalf of the business

Financial Modeling & Reporting

• Own the company financial model and keep it current
• Build deal models, scenario analyses and business cases for major commercial decisions
• Support commercial negotiations with financial analysis and structuring input

Investor & Partner Decks

• Be the person who holds the pen - take a brief from the CEO and come back with something excellent
• Translate complex financial and commercial dynamics into clear, compelling narratives for external audiences

Who You Are

• 2–4 years in investment banking (M&A, infrastructure, or sustainable finance preferred) - you know how to model, structure deals, and build a deck under pressure
• One tour in a high-growth startup (Series A–C) - you've seen how the engine room works and thrived in ambiguity
• Genuinely excited by the sustainability / materials space - you don't need to be an expert, but you need to care
• Self-directed: you take a problem, go away, and come back with a solution, not more questions
• Strong communicator - written and verbal; comfortable with founders, investors and blue-chip partners
• High tolerance for ambiguity and low tolerance for bureaucracy

What We Offer

• Competitive salary and meaningful equity
• Direct access to leadership and genuine strategic responsibility from day one
• A chance to work on something that matters - at a company that's already proving it can w in