Building Smarter Systems: A Conversation with James Dorsey, Head of Structuring and Pricing at UrbanChain
Team
14 Oct 2025
Shahzoonia Kazmi
Oct 14 2025
James Dorsey brings together science, strategy, and systems to make sure every contract UrbanChain prices is competitive and sustainable. Along with his team he’s responsible for analysing and calculating over 50 components per deal – it's these data points that keep UrbanChain’s energy market both fair and financially balanced.
“We’re building something new here, which allows us to imagine the best possible way to do things and then make that happen. The energy industry tends to set in its ways fast – we’ve managed to avoid that.”
With two decades as an atmospheric physicist working on global climate processes at CERN, NASA, and the UK Met Office – clean energy has been a huge part of James’ life.
“Clean energy has always mattered to me. UrbanChain is a way to help finance the energy transition in a fair and sustainable way and to make a practical difference.”
A Career of Discovery and Change
As an atmospheric scientist James spent 20 years chasing clouds and climate patterns across the globe. He’s flown through volcanic ash plumes after Iceland’s eruption in 2010, dodged polar bears in the Canadian Arctic, and spent months aboard research aircraft above the Arctic Sea and jungles of Borneo.
“Eventually, when it became clear that we’d won the climate argument, I moved into the energy industry as a more direct way to cut carbon emissions.”
James chasing ship plumes in the eastern Atlantic
Transitioning from academia to the private sector wasn’t easy.
“My first year on a pricing desk felt like drowning in unnecessary complications and acronyms,” he admits.
But the timing was perfect. He soon found himself leading the European retail pricing desk for a major multinational energy company – right in the middle of the most serious energy crisis since the 1970s.
He’s proud of the systems he’s built along the way including three bespoke pricing engines, one of which powers UrbanChain today. But what stands out most for him is the people.
“Technical systems keep me interested day to day, but I’m proudest of seeing people I’ve worked with go on to bigger things. Helping others grow and succeed – that’s the real reward.”
Structuring with Purpose
James leads the team responsible for pricing both energy supply contracts and power purchase agreements – the backbone of the company’s commercial operations. His work touches almost every part of the business, from sales and finance to portfolio and generation. This year, his focus has been on scalability and automation. His works has included:
- Moving from manual calculations to an automated, cloud-based pricing system capable of improved forecasting of demand and future costs in real time.
- Building robust models to strengthen UrbanChain’s contract and portfolio management.
- Embedding collaboration between pricing, tech, and finance teams to improve portfolio visibility.
One recent success he’s proud of came from that collaboration: when the finance team needed a fast assessment on a complex volume position, the data pipeline between tech and portfolio meant James’s team could deliver the full analysis in a single day.
“That kind of agility is only possible when collaboration happens pre-emptively. That’s the way we like to work at UrbanChain.”
Leadership and Teamwork
James’s leadership philosophy is simple: set clear expectations, give people the tools and space to do their best work, and step back.
“Set people up for success, then relax and smile as they exceed expectations. And when things go wrong, own your share of it. The team know I’ll never leave them hanging out to dry – that’s what builds confidence.”
He understands success comes from empowerment – giving people the autonomy and trust to develop their own ideas.
“Everyone needs to know their responsibilities, have time to build their skills, and feel confident to innovate,” he says.
And at UrbanChain, motivation takes care of itself. “We’re lucky – no one here needs external motivation. We know what we’re doing and why we’re doing it. That’s enough.”
At UrbanChain, that leadership style is felt across his team.
Mihirr, a recent graduate who joined 3 months ago as a Strategy Analyst under James, says: “If I had to describe James in three words, they’d be supportive, approachable, and kind. Working with him has been such a positive and motivating experience. He creates an atmosphere where it feels easy to share ideas, ask questions, and be open about challenges. What I value most is how he focuses on growth and always takes the time to explain the reasoning behind decisions and encouraging me to think independently while still being there when I need his support. He gives me projects that are both interesting and developmental, which keeps the work engaging. James is incredibly knowledgeable, and his respectful and thoughtful approach makes him an inspiring manager to work with.”
Geet, a Structuring and Pricing Quant, adds: “He’s an excellent manager with a great sense of style and individuality – his patterned shirts and fashion sense always stand out. Beyond that, his management style is something I truly admire. He gives you the freedom to take ownership of your work and always stands by his team, no matter the circumstance. He encourages experimentation and sees mistakes as opportunities to learn rather than reasons for criticism. His approach creates an environment of trust, growth, and confidence where you feel supported and motivated to perform at your best.”
Beyond the Numbers
Outside of work, James’s life revolves around his ten-year-old daughter, who keeps him busy. He recently became a Swim England licensed judge, turning his long weekends at swim meets into something even more meaningful.
He’s also motorcycle enthusiast, scuba diver, and qualified yacht skipper – though he jokes that his family takes care of keeping him grounded.
And for those who enjoy a good story – James once survived a hang-gliding accident that left him recovering from brain injury symptoms for nearly a decade.
James with his daughter
“I nearly died in 1997 but recovered fully. Obviously, I’m completely fine now with no strange personality quirks whatsoever,” he says with a smile.
Looking Ahead
The next year promises to be pivotal for James and his team. He’s particularly excited about the arrival of a forecasting engineer who will help expand UrbanChain’s predictive capabilities.
“It’s going to be a step change in our ability to wring the most possible value out of large-scale deals and our entire portfolio.”
As UrbanChain grows, James expects his own focus to evolve too as he steps back from system design and deeper into strategy and research.
“The pricing team can pretty much operate independently now, which is exactly how it should be. That gives me space to think strategically – to explore, model, and shape how we control price and volume risk as we grow.”
He’s also focused on monitoring and responding to industry regulations like environmental levies, unlicensed supply and local distribution changes. Not to mention his work on planning for UrbanChain’s international expansion.
From cloud physics to contract physics, James knows systems shape behaviour like the back of his hand. Build them right and everyone wins: generators gain certainty, consumers get value, and the grid gets cleaner and more efficient.
That’s the future he’s engineering at UrbanChain – one deal at a time.
