Assistant Director - Corporate Innovation - Startup

About The Role :

Based in Mumbai and reporting to the CEO of a company, the Director will serve as the primary lead for building the Corporate Partner Innovation Program and Member program; may additionally be asked to be involved with other areas of the company from time to time.

As part of senior management, you will be responsible for planning and delivering the business objectives including revenue growth, working with client innovation teams to identify strategic business areas to focus on during their participation; identifying, interviewing, and onboarding startups; planning and executing in-person innovation fests, innovation immersion programs starting in Tel Aviv and locations around the world. Also showcasing and hosting global delegations in the Indian innovation ecosystem will be an important part of this journey. Domestic/international travel may be required.

What You'll Be Doing : 

Client Management Responsibilities:

- Work well with clients that can sometimes have wide-varying degrees of experience around startups and open innovation methodologies and mindsets

- Manage the strategic relationships to bring in corporate collaborators during the program; to ensure client satisfaction and renewals and /or expansion

- Build the team required to oversee the day-to-day client interactions and program management activities and to ensure expectations and timelines are met with a high level of quality

- Advise clients on major technology and business trends in their industry

- Foster positive relationships between the various program stakeholders (startups, corporations, media partners, mentors, investors, etc.)

Program Management :

- Assist clients with an identification of the strategic objectives or areas within their business that could be rich territories for startup-driven innovation

- Work with corporate collaborator and startup stakeholders to define the program structure, success criteria, timeline, and milestones

- Serve as the primary subject matter expert for your program's industry in key meetings with prospective accelerator clients

- Oversee execution of the program, ensuring high-quality, on-time, and within-budget delivery

- Identify top startups within your program's industry and validate their readiness to participate in the accelerator

- Track and report to senior leadership and global stakeholders

- Manage key events including hosting global delegations, kick-off, pilot strategy sessions, and internal and external demo-days

- Assist teams with the creation and development of product materials and marketing assets in the promotion of events and program milestones

- Develop and profitably manage the P&L for your programs

Team Leadership :

- This role is an important leadership position and you will be directly managing Associate, and Manager-level team members who will support the programs under your responsibility

- Provide mentoring and career management support to your direct reports /teams through regular 1:1s and semi-annual reviews

- Create staffing plans and lead hiring activities to support your program's needs

Ideal Candidate Profile :

General : 

- You have a passion for understanding & helping corporate innovation teams solve some of their most difficult business challenges and/or capitalize on their biggest business opportunities through startup-driven innovation

- Understand the startup ecosystem, curate relevant startups for the corporates based on their problems/needs

- You thrive in a fast-paced environment where you have a high degree of autonomy and decision-making authority

- Data science and data-driven results are a hallmark of your work and fundamental to your approach

- You are a good communicator, with excellent written and verbal skills, and a team player

- You are very comfortable presenting to, and building / maintaining strong business relationships with Fortune 500 C-suite executives

Skills, Experience, and Education : 

- Bachelors or Masters in finance, commerce, an engineering degree (or equivalent) from an accredited educational institution

- 6- 8 years of professional experience within the corporate innovation or startup ecosystem space (accelerators, incubators, family office, VC firms, etc.)

- Atleast 2 years of prior, direct experience with technology accelerator programs (from either the startup or corporate perspective), deep understanding of AI, medtech, IOT, bitcoin technologies in addition to other areas in the startup ecosystem.

- Strong program and project management experience; ability to ensure that deadlines are met, well organized

- Effective communication and leadership skills

- Ability to multi-task and manage multiple expectations of team members

- Can do- attitude with a proven ability to work as part of a collaborative team

- Willingness to roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty in order to take care of some of the less glamorous sides of the job