Program Director

Overview:
The Liu Idea Lab for Innovation & Entrepreneurship is the beating heart of entrepreneurship, innovation, venture capital and research commercialization for the whole Rice University campus. Our Center combines over +50 for-credit, experiential courses every year with a suite of programs, resources, competitions and accelerators to help entrepreneurs and innovators at every stage of their journey. Our mission is to serve Rice University students, faculty and alumni from all majors and degree programs in helping them go from idea to real world impact. We’ve been ranked as the #1 Graduate Entrepreneurship program in the country for the last 4 years in a row, but need your help to aim even higher in the future.

We are seeking a Program Manager to lead our Research Commercialization and Venture Acceleration programs. This is a unique opportunity to be at the forefront of innovation and help entrepreneurs bring their cutting-edge ideas to market. In this role, you will be responsible for identifying promising people, research and companies from across the Rice University ecosystem, and building the immersive, experiential programs to catalyze their next great startup. You will work closely with student and faculty startup founders to help them accelerate their growth, secure funding, and achieve their goals, while acting as connective tissue to the broader Texas and US startup ecosystems.

Responsibilities:
As the Program Manager, your responsibilities will include:
Identifying promising research and technology from across the Rice University ecosystem: You will work with faculty, Department Heads, Directors of research institutes and others to identify promising PhD and Post-Doc students across Engineering and the Sciences. These students should be working on exciting areas of groundbreaking research and technology that you believe has commercialization potential. This will involve networking with researchers, attending events and conferences, and building deep relationships across labs, disciplines, and networks.
Connecting researchers and innovators with the startup ecosystem: Once you have identified promising research and technology, you will work to connect our emerging campus founders with the startup ecosystem. This will involve working with the startups in our Accelerator and Fellowship programs, connecting them with entrepreneurs, industry innovators, investors and mentors with relevant expertise.
Working with startup founders to help them accelerate their growth and achieve their goals: You will work closely with the startups in our courses, co-curricular programs, and Fellowship and accelerator programs, helping them to accelerate their growth and achieve their goals. This will involve providing mentorship, networking opportunities, and funding opportunities.
You will work to facilitate mentorship, networking, and funding opportunities for startups. This will involve connecting startups with mentors who can help them grow and succeed, architecting networking events where startups can meet potential investors and customers, and identifying funding opportunities that can help startups take their business to the next level.
You will work closely with other program managers and team members at the Liu Idea Lab to create a comprehensive ecosystem for entrepreneurs, with integrated resources and programming for every step of the entrepreneurial journey. This will involve collaborating with the Launchpad program, student clubs, the marketing team and the events program to ensure that entrepreneurs have access to all the resources they need to succeed.
Managing relationships with partners, sponsors, and stakeholders: You will manage relationships with partners, sponsors, and stakeholders to ensure that the Research Commercialization and Venture Acceleration program at the Liu Idea Lab is successful. This will involve identifying new partners and sponsors, maintaining relationships with existing partners and sponsors, and working to ensure that all stakeholders are aligned and working towards the same goals.
Developing and executing marketing strategies to attract startups, mentors, and investors: You will work with the marketing team at the Liu Idea Lab to develop and execute marketing strategies that will attract startups, mentors, and investors to the Liu Idea Lab, with a particular focus on the Research Commercialization and Venture Acceleration programs. This will involve developing content, running advertising campaigns, and attending events to promote the program.
Tracking and reporting on program metrics and impact: You will be responsible for tracking and reporting on all program metrics and impact. This will involve collecting data on the startups in the program, tracking their progress, and reporting on the impact that the program is having on the campus and in the startup ecosystem.

Qualifications:
To be successful in this role, you should have:
A bachelor's degree in a relevant field is required for this role. A master's degree or PhD in a business, science or engineering related field is preferred.
At least +1 years experience in research commercialization and related research commercialization funding mechanisms (venture capital, federal grants, etc)
At least 3 years experience with startups and startup accelerator programs
At least 3 years experience engaging within and across a startup ecosystem
A teamwork oriented attitude, where we all work together in service of our students, faculty and alumni, elevating and celebrating our wins across the team
A desire to work collaboratively across functions and levels of the Liu Idea Lab organization to ensure alignment of offerings, messaging, and promotions
Strong opinions, that are adaptable to new information
A hunger and hustle to how you like to work.
A creative problem solving attitude that likes to jump into the deep end to fix something they see as an issue