Venture and Founder Development Lead

Job Description

Te Whiwhinga mahi | The opportunity 

This is a unique leadership opportunity to shape the University’s founder and venture development pathway and build the team that will deliver it. 

Working at the intersection of innovation, entrepreneurship and commercialisation, you’ll lead a busy year-round portfolio that helps students, researchers and staff explore opportunities, validate ideas, develop as founders and progress early-stage ventures towards appropriate next-stage support. 

You will: 

• Lead the strategic development, delivery and continuous improvement of CIE’s founder and venture development portfolio.  
• Shape a coherent pathway from early idea and exploration through validation, venture development and connection to appropriate next-stage support.  
• Build and lead a new Venture & Founder Development team, creating clear priorities, strong ways of working and consistently high-quality delivery.  
• Lead a diverse portfolio of founder and venture initiatives, ensuring programmes, cohorts, mentors, practitioners and external dependencies are well planned and coordinated.  
• Build trusted relationships with founders, researchers, academics, mentors, investors, industry, commercialisation colleagues and ecosystem partners.  
• Strengthen connections between CIE’s venture initiatives and wider opportunities for research translation, commercialisation, investment and venture support.  
• Use evidence, founder insights and emerging venture practices to inform portfolio decisions and continuously improve quality and founder outcomes.  
• Contribute as a member of CIE’s Leadership Team to the Centre’s strategy, performance, culture and organisational development.  

This is a full-time (37.5 hours per week), permanent role.  This is a salary band I role, with a salary range from $122,500pa to $146,000pa depending on skills and experience.

The nature of CIE’s programmes and events means the role requires flexibility to work outside normal business hours, including evening work as required and occasional weekend work. 

For more detailed information, please refer to the Position Description. 

Mō tō mātou rōpū | About the team 

The Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) is Waipapa Taumata Rau’s platform for developing the innovators, entrepreneurs and changemakers of the future. We work across the University to help students, researchers and staff build innovation and entrepreneurial capability, turn ideas into action, develop ventures, and create social, cultural, environmental and economic impact for Aotearoa and the world.  

CIE is entering an exciting new chapter. With an ambitious new strategy, we are significantly increasing the reach and impact of innovation and entrepreneurship across the University, helping realise Waipapa Taumata Rau’s ambition to be a global powerhouse of innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship, and strengthening the University’s contribution to a more innovative and prosperous Aotearoa.  

We are building a team of people who are curious, collaborative, ambitious for impact and committed to turning ambition into action. If you want to help shape how a world-class research-led university develops innovative and entrepreneurial people, we would love to hear from you.  

He kōrero mōu | About you 

You are an experienced people and portfolio leader who combines strong venture and founder-development expertise with exceptional organisation, forward planning and execution. You understand what founders and early-stage ventures need as they move from an initial idea through exploration, validation and venture development, and you know how to turn that understanding into high-quality programmes and pathways. 

You thrive in a fast-paced and varied environment and can lead a complex portfolio while building a new team and establishing the clarity, priorities and ways of working that enable people to perform at their best. You think ahead, anticipate dependencies and pressure points, and remain close enough to delivery to understand what is working, where quality can be strengthened and when intervention is needed. 

You bring strong commercial judgement and can work credibly across different venture contexts, including student-led and research-derived ventures. You understand research translation and commercialisation and can work effectively with founders, researchers, academics, commercialisation professionals, investors, industry and the wider entrepreneurial ecosystem. 

You are also a collaborative organisational leader. As a member of CIE’s Leadership Team, you will bring your expertise and perspective to collective decisions, work effectively across portfolio boundaries and take shared responsibility for CIE’s strategy, performance, culture and overall success. 

You will bring: 

• Significant experience in venture and founder development, entrepreneurship, innovation, commercialisation or a related field.  
• Demonstrated success leading and developing people and building high-performing, collaborative teams.  
• Exceptional forward planning and portfolio-management capability, with experience leading multiple programmes or initiatives in complex, fast-moving environments.  
• Strong understanding of founder journeys and early-stage venture development, including opportunity exploration, validation and progression towards appropriate next-stage support.  
• Strong commercial judgement and an understanding of research translation and commercialisation.  
• Outstanding stakeholder engagement and influencing skills, with the credibility to work effectively with founders, researchers, academics, commercialisation professionals, investors, industry and ecosystem partners.  
• Experience coaching, mentoring or supporting founders as they navigate uncertainty, test assumptions and develop opportunities.  
• Strategic judgement and the ability to translate organisational priorities into coherent pathways, high-quality delivery and measurable outcomes.  
• Experience managing budgets, resources and operational planning.  
• A relevant tertiary qualification in business, innovation, entrepreneurship, science, engineering or a related discipline.  

Experience in a tertiary education, research, innovation or entrepreneurship environment would be advantageous. An understanding of a research-led university environment, including the different contexts and motivations of students, researchers and academic staff, would be particularly valuable.

Qualifications

Additional Information

What we offer | Ngā āhuatanga kei a mātou 

The University of Auckland is New Zealand’s leading university and maintains significant computational, laboratory and analytic facilities. 

The University is committed to providing an excellent working environment through: 

• Flexible employment practices (including working from home, flexible hours) 

• Up to 6.75% company superannuation scheme 

• A competitive salary ($122,500 pa to $146,000pa) reflecting experience with five weeks’ annual leave 

In addition, we also offer career development programmes, discounted car parking, a generous parental leave allowance, childcare, and a number of other discounts on internal and external services.  

For more information, please visit Staff Benefits 

Me pēhea te tuku tono | How to apply 

Applications must be submitted online, by the closing date of Sunday 15th November , 2026 to be considered. Please include your CV and a cover letter highlighting how you meet the skills and experience outlined above, what attracts you to this opportunity, what you would bring to CIE and its leadership team, and how your experience has prepared you to lead a complex and diverse founder and venture development portfolio within a University context.

Equity

The University is committed to meeting its obligations under the Treaty of Waitangi and achieving equity outcomes for staff and students in a safe, inclusive, and equitable environment.  For further information on services for Māori, Pacific, women, LGBTQIATakatāpuiMVPFAFF+, people with disabilities, parenting support, flexible work and other personal circumstances go to www.equity.auckland.ac.nz