Managing Director Boston

About Activate Global

Activate empowers scientists and engineers to reinvent our world by bringing their research to market. We partner with leading funders and research institutions to offer the Activate Fellowship providing the funding community mentorship network and time that scientists need to become entrepreneurs.

The results are game changing: Activate Fellows have launched 197 new companies since 2015. These companies have raised $4B in follow-on funding created more than 2800 U.S.-based jobs and defined several new market categories. Activate supports fellows in Berkeley CA; Cambridge MA; New York NY; Houston TX; and across the U.S. through Activate Anywhere.

Position Summary

Activate is looking for a Managing Director to mentor a community of Activate Fellows in the Boston area by serving as their primary entrepreneurial advisor. In this role you will drive key fellowship programmatic efforts lead the selection of new fellows each year and connect your community of fellows with resources support and each other to enable their entrepreneurial success. This role will be responsible for representing the Boston fellow community to the larger Activate Global team and to external stakeholders across academia industry finance and government. The Managing Director will report to Activate’s US Fellowship Leader. Join us as we work to create the world’s leading platform supporting the earlier stages of science entrepreneurship!

Primary Responsibilities

• Serve as Managing Director and primary advisor for a cross-disciplinary community of entrepreneurial fellows.
• Drive successful outcomes for each individual fellow providing mentorship support network connectivity and resources.
• Oversee core elements of the fellowship including review and selection of fellows and bi-weekly in-person and virtual educational programming.
• Build and maintain relationships with universities research institutions and other talent pipelines to attract strong applicants to future fellowship cohorts.
• Lead ecosystem engagement efforts for the Boston region including strengthening relationships with key innovation partners and supporting visibility for Activate and its fellows.
• Build collaborative cross-functional relationships with staff and partners to ensure the program operates effectively and efficiently.
• Represent Activate at an executive level with public- and private-sector stakeholders from across the technology innovation ecosystem.
• Engage with current and potential government and philanthropic sponsors.
• Partner with Boston’s local Program Manager to provide best-in-class support to the fellows.

The Ideal Candidate…

• Has an advanced degree in the physical or biological sciences and a minimum of 10 years experience in research development management and commercialization of science-driven technologies.
• Has entrepreneurial experience as the leader of a new company or business unit.
• Has led high-performance technical teams and has demonstrated a commitment to nurturing talent through mentorship.
• Has a strong network and reputation among stakeholders from across the innovation ecosystem (academia industry finance and government) and in the Boston area.
• Strongly exhibits objectivity empathy and inclusiveness in leadership.
• Is an excellent communicator and collaborator.
• Can manage a complex dynamic portfolio of projects and stakeholders.
• Believes that groundbreaking science has the power to change the world—but only if it reaches the people and places that need it most.
• Supportive of a broad range of finance and business models for advancing hard-tech to market.
• Would be excited to wake up each day asking the question “what can I do to make our fellows successful?”

About the Role

This is a full-time position with a competitive base of $215000 with a generous benefits package that includes professional development $2000 in annual wellness funds flexible paid time off healthcare coverage for employees and dependents with 90–100% of premiums covered and the opportunity to join a retirement plan with a 3% match beginning after 3 months at Activate. 

This position is based in Cambridge MA. Because we operate an in-person community our team typically works from the office at least part of each day.

Encouraging Applications from All Backgrounds 

We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating a welcoming workplace for all employees. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to age race color religion gender sexual orientation gender identity national origin veteran or disability status. We will not tolerate discrimination or harassment based on any of these characteristics. Activate Global Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

What We Do

We empower scientists to reinvent the world by bringing their research to market. Founded in 2015 Activate is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that empowers scientists to reinvent the world by bringing their research to market to address climate change and other global challenges. Activate works between government and the private sector transforming scientists into high-impact entrepreneurs through a fellowship that guides them along every step of the journey. The Activate Fellowship provides two years of funding and connects fellows with the resources knowledge and networks they need to succeed. The fellowship does not take equity in fellows' startups. Activate's entrepreneurial fellowship model originated at Cyclotron Road a division of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and founding Activate partner. Today Activate supports 20-30 new Activate Fellows each year in with plans to expand to 100 new fellows across the United States each year. For more information go to Activate.org.