Partnerships Associate
MassChallenge is looking for an organized individual to play a pivotal role as the Partnerships Associate to support the Early Stage programs. Reporting to the Senior Director of Partnerships, you will have goals related to creating efficient work processes, managing partner deliverables, on-boarding new partners, and facilitating external communications. You should consider this role if you bring a dynamic style and strategic approach to developing internal work processes and servicing external relationships. You should also be excited about enabling the success of startups through helping our enterprise partners achieve their own business goals. You’ll have the opportunity to regularly interact with startups and alumni to help create value for our partners in the community.
Our Commitment to Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility (I.D.E.A.): We are looking for individuals from underrepresented races, sexual orientations, genders, identities, abilities, and experiences to join our team, enhance our culture, and increase our diversity of thought. We recognize that skills are gained in many ways, whether it be through professional, academic, or lived experience. We also know that it’s not always easy to apply for a job if you’re not sure you check every box in the job description. There is no such thing as a ‘perfect’ candidate, so no matter your background and how you identify, we encourage you to apply for this job if it would make you excited to come into work every day.
A note on location and start time: These positions will be based out of our Boston, MA office which is currently closed because of the global COVID-19 pandemic. It is highly likely that this position starts virtual/remote which means you can be located anywhere in the U.S. to start while working east coast hours. We anticipate opening the office no earlier than September 7, 2021, at reduced capacity and with strict safety measures in place. Once our office opens, you would be expected to come in, and at this time we are not able to provide relocation assistance.
What You’ll Do as Partnerships Associate:
Partnership Operations and Accelerator Activity
- Serve as the Partnerships team liaison for partner engagement activities related to the early-stage accelerator program.
- Plan and manage activities such as judging, bootcamp, tracks, curriculum presentations, office hours, mentor matching, and community engagement events.
- Collaborate with MassChallenge team members in marketing, operations, events, and mentorship to ensure effective service delivery.
- Identify and manage various grant applications; collect data and work with grantees to submit applications for funding.
Relationship Management
- Contribute directly to account management activities for partners that require heavy logistical support.
- Create a service-oriented culture where we consistently set proper expectations and flawlessly deliver for our corporate partners.
- Develop long-term, strategic business relationships with partners, with an eye towards trends and changes in the world of entrepreneurship and ways we can bring this information to our partners.
- Assist with strategic planning activities and business development efforts by collecting and maintaining data in salesforce
Who You Are and What You Bring:
- You have 0-2 years of work experience in a business, operations, or innovation strategy role. December 2020 graduates encouraged to apply!
- You are exceptionally organized, obsessed with details and have strong project management experience.
- You are able to work independently and as a team player, to take initiative and manage multiple tasks and projects at a time.
- You are a relationship builder and enjoy making and maintaining connections with people. This includes having interpersonal, written, and oral communication skills.
- You have a customer service mindset and reputation for going above and beyond to help your customers.
- You bring equal enthusiasm for both day-to-day executional tasks and bigger picture projects and are eager to add value to everything you do at work.
- You have strong written and verbal communication skills and strong attention to detail.
- You are tech savvy and are quick to learn new technology and systems (we use Asana and Salesforce).
Who We Are
MassChallenge is the global network for innovators who are working to solve massive challenges. We connect startups, experts, corporations, and communities to grow and transform businesses and economies. At MassChallenge we:
- Help entrepreneurs build the next generation of transformational businesses by connecting them with the resources, partnerships, and communities that help them launch, grow, and scale their startups.
- Help our partners build, grow, and evolve their corporate innovation practices.
- Leverage the power of entrepreneurship to strengthen global innovation ecosystems.
MassChallenge Lingo
Whether you’ve never heard of an accelerator, you’ve had your own startup, or you are new to the world of entrepreneurship, we use certain words at MassChallenge to describe our work that might be new to you. Here are a few words you have seen throughout this job description and what they mean to us:
- Program: A startup accelerator program at MassChallenge that is location or industry based that conducts its own applications, cohorts, and curriculum, such as MassChallenge Boston, MassChallenge Texas, or MassChallenge FinTech.
- Partner: An organization that has teamed up with MassChallenge to collaborate on achieving their own innovation-related goals and learn best practices for working with and integrating startups into their organization.
- Judging: MC Experts serve as judges to identify the top startups to participate in and rise as winners for any MC program. The various judging rounds include either an online or an ‘in-person’ pitch.
- Expert: MassChallenge experts are a core pillar for every MassChallenge accelerator. MC Experts are seasoned business leaders and entrepreneurs who volunteer their time to support startups as mentors, judges, and curriculum facilitators.
Why You Should Join Us
We believe working at MassChallenge is fulfilling because of the mission, challenging because of the pace and work, and rewarding because you get to build to the next step in your career here. When you join MassChallenge you join an incredible team and network of innovators and entrepreneurs, you take ownership over significant and strategically important projects, you focus on impact and output, and you help strengthen the global innovation ecosystem.
How to Apply
In addition to completing the online application and providing your resume, please include a one-page cover letter in which you tell us why this job is compelling to you.
Employment at MassChallenge is contingent upon verification of identity and eligibility to work in the country that the position is based in, based on applicable laws.