SovAI
Sovereign AI - Operating Partner
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AI is not a sector like any other. It is becoming the substrate on which future economic growth, scientific discovery and national resilience are built. Countries that control their own compute, talent and frontier capability will shape the next decade of geopolitics and prosperity. Countries that don't will rent it from someone else.
Backed by up to £500 million, the Fund exists to turn ambition into action, supporting high-potential AI startups and scaleups to become national champions and strengthening the UK’s sovereign capability in frontier AI.
Why this role matters
Capital is the easy part. What determines whether a portfolio company becomes a national champion or quietly stalls is what happens after initial investment. Whether founders get the support, the government access, and the honest counsel they need at the moments that matter. That is the job this role owns.
A fund is only as sharp as its visibility into its own portfolio. The Operating Partner is the connective tissue between the portfolio and government itself, opening doors to procurement, policy engagement and partnerships that a startup could never access alone. This role owns governance, monitoring, and regulator relationships across the fund, including tracking and evaluating performance against both the portfolio and the fund's own mandate. It also leads on finance and heads up the fund's legal function and its external legal relationships. Alongside this, the role serves as the fund's main point of contact for all regulatory and compliance matters.
This is a role for someone who wants to be the trusted operator behind every company we back, in an environment that is fast moving and often ambiguous, with a simple expectation to know the portfolio better than anyone else and use that knowledge to help companies win and to make the Fund's decisions sharper.
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What you'll do
- Build the Fund's platform function from the ground up: decide where hands-on support creates the most leverage for portfolio companies and where to build scalable programmes and resources instead like navigating the visa system and supporting on procurement frameworks.
- Build and run go-to-market support: connect portfolio companies with customers, channels and commercial opportunities across government and industry.
- Build relationships across Government: work alongside the Head of Policy and Head of R&D Schemes to access their relationships with government departments, regulators and public bodies, creating pathways for portfolio companies to access procurement, policy engagement and strategic partnerships.
- Lead on governance: provide the secretariat for the Strategy Board and Investment Committee to ensure effective decision-making and record-keeping.
- Lead on monitoring & evaluation: own the relationship with the M&E supplier, working with them to collect data and support portcos on disclosure arrangements.
- Lead on finance: work directly with the Managing Partner on budget planning, tracking, and reforecasting fund-level spend; working closely with the fund administrator.
- Lead the fund's legal function: acting as the fund's primary point of contact on regulatory and compliance matters.
- Partner with the Investment team: prioritize platform resources based on real portfolio needs.
- External communications: ensure effective use of key communications tools (website, podcasts) and oversee the website, media relations, external events and stakeholder engagement.
What success looks like in the first 12 months
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- Every portfolio company has a clear, active pathway into at least one relevant government or procurement relationship.
- The Fund's governance rhythm (board secretariat, reporting, M&E) runs reliably.
- The Fund has a functioning legal and regulatory operating model, with clear ownership of compliance.
- Partners trust the platform function to know and understand the portfolio.
We are looking for:
- You have a track record as an exec or leader (CEO, COO etc) in Fund’s and startups.
- You've built or scaled a platform, operations, or founder support function, whether inside a venture fund, in a senior operating role at a high growth company, or by founding your own company.
- You're comfortable owning governance, finance, and regulatory rigour as much as founder support. You can oversee a legal function, and act as the point of contact for regulators.
- You have experience operating in, or alongside, government, regulated, or publicly accountable environments.
- You're motivated by making a team's decisions sharper and a portfolio's outcomes better, rather than by owning the investment decision yourself.
What we offer
- Salary: £120,000.
- Life & family:
- Contract Type: Fixed-term (24 months) please feel free to ask about this.
- Hybrid working, flexibility for occasional remote work abroad and stipends for work-from-home equipment.
- Generous annual leave - 25 days plus one additional day for each year of service.
- Generous paid parental leave (up to 39 weeks full pay + option for additional unpaid time).
- On top of your salary, we contribute 28.97% of your base salary to your pension.
- Discounts and benefits for cycling to work, dental insurance, donations and retail/gyms.
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