Associate Director – Center for Entrepreneurship

Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Associate Director fostering Vanderbilt University’s student-founder entrepreneurship ecosystem. Leading founder programs, alumni mentoring, Venture Scouts, and startup grant competitions.

Posted 8/19/2026full-timeNashville • Tennessee • 🇺🇸 United StatesSeniorWebsite

Core Competencies

Role fit

Core Competencies

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Demonstrates expertise in mentoring startup founders and developing processes for entrepreneurship support, with a strong focus on marketing, grant management, and relationship building within the startup ecosystem.

Highest-signal resume keywords

Startup Landscape KnowledgeMentorship Program DevelopmentGrant Competition ManagementInterpersonal Communication SkillsOrganizational Skills

ATS Keywords

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Applicant Tracking System Keywords

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Hard Skills

Venture Capital OperationsWorkshop FacilitationContent RedesignFeedback CollectionCRM ManagementProcess DevelopmentPerformance Metrics AnalysisStartup Application EvaluationMentor Matching MechanismsStudent Training and Evaluation

Soft Skills

InitiativeAutonomous Problem SolvingPassion for Entrepreneurship

Certifications & Qualifications

Bachelor's Degree

Industry Keywords

Venture-Backed StartupsEntrepreneurshipAlumni EngagementStudent InnovationVanderbilt University Environment

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Use research, marketing, and other techniques to grow demand for services from Vanderbilt founders
Design digital and human intake workflows that assess startup status and prescribe Center for Entrepreneurship resources
Lead workshops and speaker series, including content redesign, exercise and tool development, speaker recruitment, session teaching or moderation, and feedback collection
Provide one-to-one mentoring to startup founders
Build processes to attract, categorize, and onboard alumni mentors in the Center’s CRM
Prepare founders for mentorship and create founder-mentor matching mechanisms
Gather feedback to improve the mentorship matching program and achieve a net promoter score of 70
Coordinate with alumni advisors and student leaders to grow Venture Scout marketing, intake, and investment memo capabilities
Support Venture Scouts serving 20 founders annually, with 50% receiving funding
Develop Venture Scout student marketing, interview, selection, onboarding, training, and evaluation processes
Market and execute grant competitions to generate 120+ student-led startup applications annually
Refine grant selection criteria, feedback mechanisms, and evaluation processes
Oversee grant winner payments, in-kind products and services, mentor matching, lectures, events, and progress check-ins
Perform other duties as assigned
Report administratively and functionally to the Director of the Center for Entrepreneurship

Requirements

What you’ll need

Bachelor’s degree required
Minimum of 3–5 years of experience inside venture-backed startups or portfolio operations of a venture capital fund
Demonstrated history of taking initiative and working autonomously to solve problems
Proven ability to deliver against organizational key performance indicators
Strong interpersonal, communication, and organizational skills
Knowledge of the startup landscape and resources available for entrepreneurs
Familiarity with the Vanderbilt University environment and culture
Relationships with noteworthy entrepreneurial figures and/or entities who can provide meaningful resources to Vanderbilt founders
Passion for entrepreneurship and supporting student innovation

Benefits

Comp & perks

Professional growth and learning opportunities
Equal-opportunity employment protections