Startup and Innovation Manager I Venture Creation

The University of Zurich (UZH) is the largest university in Switzerland, with a long-standing tradition of innovation that has shaped the world in which we live. The UZH Innovation Hub supports students and researchers in translating ideas into real-world impact through the full disciplinary diversity of UZH – by inspiring entrepreneurial thinking, empowering people with innovation capabilities, building pathways for research to application, and nurturing the ecosystem that enables new ideas to thrive.

The Venture Creation Team within the UZH Innovation Hub Office supports UZH members to develop promising market- and impact-oriented ventures. To strengthen the Venture Creation team, we are looking for an experienced and entrepreneurial individual who will actively develop our innovation pipeline by supporting projects on their path to becoming successful ventures. As we expand our Venture Creation activities, we aim to increase the number of qualified projects in the pipeline and extend our support to help teams progress towards higher maturity, market readiness and potential for success.

This position is offered on a three-year contract, with the possibility of extension.

Responsibilities

In this new role, you will be responsible for the development of the UZH venture pipeline, focusing on the stage of product-market fit. You will work with our team, coaches, and experts to develop high impact pro-jects towards successful ventures. Your tasks include:

• Continuously develop and improve pathways to guide diverse startup teams from the value proposition stage through to investment readiness. Support teams in the technological, market-related, and entrepre-neurial development of their projects (e.g., strategic development of proof-of-concepts, setting up pilot projects, building a team, and go-to-market strategies).
• Coordinate cooperation with internal and external entrepreneurship coaches and mentors, including founder-coach matching, onboarding, and feedback processes.
• Further develop the portfolio and performance monitoring system for the venture pipeline, providing transparency regarding the progress, quality, and long-term success of projects and delivering data-driven insights to inform the continued development of support offerings.
• Work with the team to strengthen the identity of UZH Founders and foster an active entrepreneurial com-munity.
• Strengthen teams‘ investor readiness by preparing them for meetings with investors, pilot-, and industry-partners.
• Participate in internal and external startup ecosystem events in different roles (speaker, ambassador, assistant) to inspire and inform stakeholders about the work of the UZH Innovation Hub.

Requirements

• University degree in any field.
• Several years of direct experience in developing technology- or science-based startups, e.g., as a co-founder, venture builder, or member of a very early startup leadership team.
• In-depth knowledge and direct practical experience with startup development – from idea validation through product development, pivoting, and go-to-market to fundraising and investor relations.
• Direct experience with accelerator/incubator program management, startup coaching, investor relations, or other key startup ecosystem activities.
• Strong ability to build and maintain trust-based relationships to achieve UZH goals with diverse stake-holders including researchers, founders, mentors, and investors.
• Fast-thinking, analytical, and strategic mindset combined with strong execution skills, initiative, and a hands-on approach. Passion for taking on responsibility in a dynamic work environment, and a willingness to go the extra mile to help UZH members to achieve their entrepreneurship goals.
• Experience with benchmarking and process improvement in any startup or commercial context.
• An existing local and/or international startup-related network (investors, customers, etc.) is an advantage.
• A team-oriented personality and a strong communicator with a passion for enabling talents to become entrepreneurs, translating research insights into economic and societal impact.
• Excellent command of written and spoken English; good working knowledge of German required.

Benefits

Our employees benefit from a wide range of attractive offers. Find out more: https://www.uzh.ch/de/explore/work.html.

Information on your application

Please submit your application as one PDF file until October 21st.

About us

The University of Zurich, Switzerland’s largest university, offers a range of attractive positions in various subject areas and professional fields. With around 10,000 employees and currently 12 professional apprenticeship streams the University offers an inspiring working environment on cutting-edge research and top-class education. Put your talent and skills to work with us. Find out more about UZH as an employer!