ClimateTech Programme Lead

Techleap is building the Dutch Deeptech ecosystem for 2035, and this role helps shape what that looks like for one of the most consequential domains of our time.

Climate tech at Techleap means deep technology: solutions that directly address the causes or consequences of climate change, whether reducing emissions, removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere, or helping societies withstand its effects. This is not a coordination role. You are setting the direction and delivering on the strategy. We are looking for doers.

Our deeptech work is organised through sector-specific verticals allowing for focused and high-impact interventions. Future of Compute and Energy are live. ClimateTech is yours to build.

What You’ll Be Doing

As Programme Lead ClimateTech, you will take full ownership of developing, executing, and continuously improving strategic initiatives and interventions for the ClimateTech vertical. This role offers broad responsibility and creative freedom, where your strategic thinking, stakeholder management, and subject-matter depth drive ecosystem engagement and long-term impact.

You will design and deliver a portfolio of interventions, from events and founder programmes to new partnerships and access to testing facilities and infrastructure, that address the real friction points deeptech climate founders face: technology readiness, funding gaps, difficult business cases, and complex policy landscapes. You understand these challenges from the inside, not just from a distance.

Your role is to translate vision into a structured action plan, stage interventions strategically, and build the learning and evaluation rhythm that tells you what to stop, improve, or double down on. You think in systems and portfolios, not single events. You work across verticals and contribute to cross-cutting initiatives that strengthen the ecosystem as a whole.

You will engage a wide range of stakeholders, founders, researchers, investors, corporates, and policymakers, and build a core cohort that recognises Techleap as the go-to organisation for support they cannot get anywhere else.

This role requires a low ego and a genuine service orientation. You are here to enable founders and the ecosystem to succeed. The mission is the platform, not you.

Who you are

Our ideal candidate embodies most of the qualities listed below. If you don't meet every requirement but believe you're the right fit, we encourage you to make your case.

• 5+ years of experience in a high-pace environment, preferably inside a climate tech startup or venture.
• Proven experience working in plural stakeholder environments across tech, research, and government.
• Direct experience with founders; you understand the real friction points from technology readiness to funding and market access in the context of climate policies.
• Genuine subject-matter depth in climate tech, enough to have credible conversations with technical founders and policymakers, for example carbon removal and carbon markets, adaptation technologies, and fossil fuel replacement.
• Strong analytical and structured systems thinking.
• Excellent communicator in English, written and verbal.
• Fluency in Dutch is a strong plus given the stakeholder landscape.

Preferred Qualifications

• PhD or relevant experience in a climate-related topic.
• Familiarity with Agile / Scrum methodologies.
• Existing network in the Dutch deeptech or innovation ecosystem.
• Experience in a non-profit or public-private context.

How You Work

• Connect: You build relationships across a diverse stakeholder landscape, founders, researchers, investors, and policymakers, and turn those connections into real ecosystem value. You communicate the objectives and expected outcomes of every intervention clearly and credibly.
• Make Impact: You translate strategic priorities into a structured action plan with clear milestones and KPIs. You focus on what moves the needle for founders, and you are rigorous about evaluating what works.
• Growth Mindset: You stay close to developments in the climate tech landscape, understand the specificities of different approaches and technologies, and are not afraid to experiment or challenge the status quo.
• Truly Care: Founder success is your first priority. You are comfortable with ambiguity, design before you have a full brief, and act in service of the mission, not your own visibility.

Your Success in 6 Months

• A structured action plan is in place with clear prioritisation by month 3.
• One flagship programme is live and generating measurable founder engagement by month 6.
• A core founder and stakeholder cohort is actively collaborating with Techleap.
• A learning and evaluation rhythm is established across all activities.
• At least one cross-vertical initiative has been contributed to.

What we offer

• 8% holiday allowance
• 15% pension allowance for you to allocate
• Laptop provided by Techleap (Mac or Windows)
• €100/month work from home allowance
• Travel allowance
• Unlimited holidays
• Hybrid working setup (2–3 days in office)