For over a century, Teknor Apex has been a quiet titan of American manufacturing. As a private, family-owned leader in materials science, they have built a global footprint, from plastics and chemicals to specialized medical and automotive compounds, to garden hose. With over 20 plants worldwide and a reputation for technical excellence, Teknor Apex goes beyond manufacturing; they engineer the building blocks of the modern world. However, they aren't content with legacy. They recognize that the next century of industrial leadership will be defi ned by agility, sustainability, and breakthrough technology, which is why they have made a signifi cant, board-backed bet on the venture ecosystem as their primary engine for transformation.

TekVentures is the tip of the spear for this transformation. Using the tools of venture investing, building, partnership and acquisitions, we are building a tight, high-conviction team designed to move at the speed of a startup with the weight of a global industrial leader behind us. Our mission is to identify the founders who are reimagining materials and manufacturing and provide them with an unfair advantage: access to 100 years of R&D, industrial-scale testing facilities, and a global customer base. At TekVentures, we believe that the most significant innovations happen at the intersection of scrappy and scale.

Joining TekVentures means sitting at the heart of this evolution. You’ll be working within a venture team that is well-resourced and deeply integrated into the parent company’s leadership, yet maintains the autonomy to build a world-class investment and platform function from the ground up.
opportunity for impact

TekVentures is at an inflection point, creating their future as the premier CVC in their industry. You will be the first dedicated Platform hire, meaning you have the autonomy to put your fingerprint on the future of the fund. This is for an operator who can build the playbooks, systems, and networks that help a materials science founder move from a lab setting to industrial-scale manufacturing.

Responsibilities

The Head of Platform will be focused on architecting the systems, services, and infrastructure that enable TekVentures and its portfolio to deliver on its "right to win." The goal is to create a repeatable, scalable founder experience that gives our portfolio companies a definitive edge over the competition.

In year one, the role is heavily weighted toward building from zero-to-one: establishing the foundational playbooks, operationalizing portfolio metrics, and building the internal social capital required to unlock corporate resources. As the function matures, the focus will shift from building to running the engine, with an increasing emphasis on high-touch white-glove support for mature portfolio companies and expanding the fund's expert network. Responsibilities will include:

● Operationalizing the Foundation: Evaluate the existing assets that Teknor Apex can offer to founders, and determine what services are best to then build and offer. Build the repeatable systems that ensure every founder receives a baseline of excellence without manual intervention.

● Asset Translation and Scaling: Act as the primary liaison between startups and Teknor Apex’s technical facilities. Facilitate access to underutilized lab assets and materials science expertise to help founders navigate the "valley of death" between pilot-stage and industrial-scale production.

● Portfolio Intelligence and Metrics: Establish a rigorous system for monitoring portfolio performance and activity tracking. Ensure the investment team has real-time visibility into portfolio health, operationalizing data in a way that allows for proactive rather than reactive support.

● Internal Navigation and Social Capital: Spend significant time on-site (Providence, RI [HQ] and plant locations across the US as needed) to build durable, in-person relationships with the industrial operators who control the assets founders need. You are the navigator who knows exactly which door to knock on to get a batch run or a material tested.

● Community and Network Architecture: Build a targeted network of co-investors, materials science experts, and specialized operators. Focus on high-value, targeted network building rather than broad marketing eff orts, creating a "community of practitioners" that founders can lean on.

● Strategic Prioritization: Manage the tension between corporate strategy and startup speed. You must have the organizational clarity to decide where to deploy "white-glove" effort versus where to rely on playbooks, and the communication skills to manage expectations when support cannot move forward.

● Collaboration with the Partnerships Leader: Partner closely with the Head of Venture Partnerships to ensure that commercial pilots and industrial collaborations are integrated into a seamless, coherent experience for the founder.

Personal Qualifications:

We are looking for a scrappy, resourceful builder who is excited to put their thumbprint on the future of this fund. You should be someone who views structure as something you create, not something you consume.
● Operator Instincts: You have hands-on experience within a startup or have previously worked in a C/VC platform. You understand the startup mentality—the need for speed, the constraints of capital, and the value of a partner who actually delivers.

● The Systems Architect: You are naturally systems-oriented. You don’t just solve a problem for one founder; you build a playbook so that the next ten founders have the solution at their fingertips.

● Industrial Fluency: While you don’t need to be a materials scientist, you must be comfortable in an industrial environment. You are as comfortable in a manufacturing plant as you are in a boardroom and understand that durability in this industry is built through in-person trust.

● High-EQ Communicator: You can navigate the nuances of a century-old legacy organization while advocating for the needs of a fast-moving startup. You are highly organized and can communicate clearly with the General Partners regarding bandwidth and priorities.