Assistant Director of Entrepreneurship Programs - Gies College of Business

Assistant Director of Entrepreneurship Programs

The Origin Ventures Office of Entrepreneurship is expanding access to evidence-based entrepreneurship education and providing expertise and resources to fuel all forms of entrepreneurship. The office does this through learner entrepreneurial activities, fosters knowledge creation and dissemination from top faculty in the field, and designs and offers the curriculum needed to bring that knowledge to the classroom – exposing learners to new ideas that could shape and transform the future of business.

Gies College of Business purposefully innovates through this office's thriving and continually growing entrepreneurship efforts. As a key component of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign's world-class entrepreneurial ecosystem, the office is a central hub for iVenture Accelerator, Entre Corps, Orange and Blue Ventures, the Program Fellowship, the Faculty Entrepreneurial Leadership Program, and the Entrepreneurship Minor.

This position is responsible for providing program administration and management of a portfolio of entrepreneurship education and support programs in the Origin Ventures Office of Entrepreneurship. This role supports the Office's mission to expand access to life-changing entrepreneurial education and opportunities. We do that through a broad view of entrepreneurship that encompasses founding or joining new ventures, engaging in social innovation, and adopting an entrepreneurial mindset within established organizations.

More broadly, this role partners across the Gies College of Business to create opportunities for people across campus to develop novel solutions to problems impacting business and society. The Assistant Director will work collaboratively with partners in Gies Business and across campus to develop, plan, and execute best-in-class offerings in entrepreneurship and social innovation.

Duties & Responsibilities:

• Assist with efforts to increase entrepreneurship opportunities for students and faculty within the Origin Ventures Office of Entrepreneurship. Strengthen the Office's suite of programs and increase access by expanding the scope of the ecosystem to include Chicago, the State of Illinois, and the national community which may include new partnerships and online programming.
• Investigate opportunities for the Office to support budding student entrepreneurs through events, research, networking and operations.
• Assist with efforts for the Office to serve as an educational resource for innovators to enhance campus-wide interest in and knowledge about entrepreneurship and technology commercialization.
• Contribute to overall work to support unit goals, including participation in team meetings about unit strategy, program development, reporting requirements, branding and communications, advancement, and alumni relations.
• With Gies Business Marketing and Communications, coordinate outreach and advertising content to attract qualified students to Office offerings.
• Manage work spaces and workstacks for students, as well as day to day communication with them.
• At the direction of the Associate Dean of Entrepreneurship and/or designee, provide program administration and management for a portfolio of cross-campus programs in entrepreneurship and innovation, including the iVenture Accelerator, Entrecorps, the Entrepreneurship Minor, the Program Fellowship, among other offerings. Within the program fellowship, manage student workers and interns. Support Gies entrepreneurship efforts in Chicago, including but not limited to the iVenture Accelerator summer program.
• Support programs and events, including oversight of outreach, planning, logistics, and operations for programs that engage students in the Illinois and Chicago entrepreneurship ecosystems.
• Represent the Origin Ventures Office of Entrepreneurship at campus and external events, strengthening visibility and engagement.
• Actively explore and implement programs within the entrepreneurial and innovation space that directly align with the current efforts and goals of the unit. Collaborate with faculty, staff, and campus partners to integrate entrepreneurship programming across disciplines and support the development of a cohesive campus-wide ecosystem.
• Manage social media content and coordinate with Gies Marketing & Communications to ensure a consistent and engaging presence across our channels, while supporting other outreach efforts.
• Cultivate and maintain relationships with external stakeholders, including alumni, founders, investors, and corporate partners, to enhance program engagement and mentorship opportunities.
• Create, curate, and deliver educational content in co-curricular and outreach programs. Conduct venture analysis and critique, monitor and assess student progress, design and evaluate founder experiments, and review updates through tracking systems. Produce concise written summaries and feedback memos for startups to guide iteration and improvement. Participate in select workshops, office…