Venture Principal
Location: Hybrid
Reports To: Managing Director
Type: Full-time
About 1882 Energy Ventures
1882 Energy Ventures is a venture studio accelerating the global energy transition by building and scaling startups that decentralize energy systemsreshaping how homes, businesses, mobility, and networks are powered. By advancing decentralization, we drive decarbonization, enhance energy efficiency, and fuel long-term economic growth and development in the Philippines and beyond.
About the Role
We are looking for a Venture Principal to lead the development, validation, and scaling of new ventures from the ground up. In this role, you'll operate as an early-stage co-founder driving venture strategy, leading cross-functional teams, and managing the build process through a stage-gated approach.
You'll work closely with the Managing Director and the broader venture studio team to identify high-potential opportunities, validate business models, and take ventures from zero to one. This role is ideal for someone with a strong strategic mind, entrepreneurial instinct, and the execution muscle to build in ambiguous, zero-to-one environments.
What You'll Do
1. Lead Venture Builds
- Own the end-to-end development of one or more early-stage ventures
- Drive problem validation, customer discovery, business model design, and MVP development
- Set priorities, define milestones, and ensure timely execution from concept to pilot
- Build and lead temporary or permanent venture teams as needed
2. Shape Strategy & Opportunity Thesis
- Collaborate on identifying emerging trends, whitespace opportunities, and investable themes
- Conduct deep market analysis, competitive landscaping, and early hypothesis testing
- Work with studio leadership to define investment theses and build conviction around new ideas
- Develop go-to-market strategies and financial models to test viability
3. Orchestrate Validation & Traction
- Design and run lean experiments to test assumptions and de-risk early-stage ideas
- Set up customer pipelines, pilots, and early revenue-generating activities
- Build early partnerships with corporates, startups, regulators, or distribution partners
- Define and monitor KPIs and iterate rapidly based on results
4. Manage Governance & Alignment
- Prepare materials for internal investment committees and key stakeholders
- Ensure ventures progress through studio stage gates with clarity and discipline
- Align with internal functions (legal, finance, marketing, product) to ensure ventures have what they need to succeed
- Interface with the board and investors where appropriate
5. Coach and Collaborate
- Coach associates, analysts, and venture team members to develop their capabilities
- Provide clear, structured feedback and model strong decision-making
- Demonstrate coachability yourself by seeking feedback, adapting, and evolving rapidly
- Help build a culture of high performance, humility, and continuous learning within the studio
First 90 Days Objectives
- Lead or co-lead the development of a new venture from ideation to validation
- Deliver a structured investment case for internal review (e.g. problem validation, early traction, strategic fit)
- Build and align a cross-functional team to support the venture
- Identify and execute at least 23 key experiments to de-risk core assumptions
- Demonstrate ownership and clarity in driving venture progress through our stage-gated process
What We're Looking For
- 58+ years of experience in venture building, startup leadership or product leadership
- Proven ability to take an idea from concept to market whether inside a startup or corporate innovation context
- Strong commercial instincts with the ability to test and validate ideas quickly
- Excellent prioritization skills, you focus on what moves the needle and block out the noise
- Hands-on leadership style with the ability to mobilize cross-functional teams
- Strong storytelling and stakeholder management skills, you can engage founders, funders, and functional teams alike
- Highly coachable, open to feedback, fast to iterate, and committed to your own growth
- Ability to manage ambiguity, take ownership, and drive momentum under pressure
What We Value
- Founder Mentality: You think and act like a builder, not a manager
- Pragmatic Idealism: You dream big but move fast, stay lean, and get real feedback
- Clarity & Focus: You prioritize what matters, and communicate it clearly
- Intellectual Honesty: You let evidence lead, and welcome being proven wrong
- Leadership Through Action: You set the pace by showing, not telling
- Growth Mindset: You coach others, seek feedback, and never stop learning
Preferred Qualifications
- Proven experience as a founder, co-founder, or early team leader in a startup that reached productmarket fit or early scale
- Demonstrated ability to build and lead cross-functional teams including product, design, ops, and GTM in a fast-paced, resource-constrained environment
- Experience taking a venture from zero to first customers, including hands-on involvement in GTM planning, pricing, customer discovery, and iteration cycles
- Comfortable working with ambiguous, loosely defined problem statements and shaping them into structured, testable opportunities
- Experience working in or alongside a venture studio, accelerator, or innovation lab
- Familiarity with venture financing (SAFEs, convertible notes, cap tables), investment processes, and early fundraising
- Strong grasp of lean startup principles, growth metrics, and financial modeling
- Exposure to regulated or infrastructure-heavy industries (e.g., energy, climate tech, mobility) is a strong plus
- Deep understanding of what makes a startup team succeed including the ability to coach founders and assess entrepreneurial potential
Why Join Us
This isn't just a role; it's a chance to build companies that shape the future. As Venture Principal, you'll be at the heart of our studio's mission to turn bold ideas into high-impact ventures. You'll be surrounded by a team of thinkers, builders, and strategists who thrive on pushing boundaries. If you're ready to lead with purpose and build what matters, we'd love to meet you.
