Assistant Director Student Programming (Venture Development)

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Overview

The Tsai Center for Innovative Thinking at Yale (Tsai CITY) mission is to inspire students from diverse backgrounds and disciplines to seek innovative ways to solve real-world problems.  Our unique innovation center welcomes students from all backgrounds to explore entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship across a wide spectrum of innovation—from venture‑backable startups in areas like AI and deep tech, to policy and civic initiatives that drive meaningful systems change, to transformative creative innovations such as documentary films and immersive media that shape culture.  We serve students from across Yale’s campus through non-academic programs, funding, and mentoring.

The Assistant Director, Student Programming reports to the Director of Entrepreneurship and works with the Tsai CITY team on a broad range of projects and priorities related to student entrepreneurship.  These efforts include short and long-term planning, the evaluation and implementation of systems, resources, and frameworks to support initiatives, the creation of policies and procedures for best practices in co-curricular programming and advancing the mission of Tsai CITY.

Essential Duties

• Develop and lead multiple co-curricular programs to create opportunities for students to gain knowledge and experience about the process of founding or joining an early stage venture;
• Lead Tsai CITY’s efforts with affiliated student entrepreneurship and innovation clubs and other campus partners to create programs and resources that enrich the Yale entrepreneurship ecosystem like pre-orientation programs focused on entrepreneurship and matchmaking events;
• Manage designated Startup Yale prizes;
• Design and manage programs and resources for students interested in joining a startup or searching for cofounders;
• Design educational treks to locations outside of Yale for students to learn about different entrepreneurship ecosystems;
• Recruit and manage a team of student employees dedicated to Tsai CITY’s venture development programs; 
• Support large-scale events and programs (for example, Summer Fellowship, Startup Yale, etc.).
• Other duties as assigned.

 

Required Skills and Abilities

1. Strong project and/or program management skills.   Demonstrated ability to design and manage a program in a dynamic environment with evolving needs or managing complex projects.  

 2. Ability to work with a wide variety of constituents including students, faculty, and external partners.

3. Strong communications skills.  Ability to articulate complex ideas and process to audiences with varying knowledge and expertise.  

4. Demonstrated facility with a variety of software tools and platforms for program management and community development and communications (e.g., Airtable, Circle, Trello, Notion, Salesforce, etc.). Ability and willingness to learn and adopt new tools quickly.

5. Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively and within a team, taking a proactive, creative, and flexible approach to program development and problem solving.  

Preferred Skills and Abilities

1. Demonstrated experience as a founder, as an early employee in a startup, in a startup accelerator, or in a university entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem, working with entrepreneurs.  

Principal Responsibilities

1. In support of the overall mission, plans, directs and oversees programmatic activities. 2. Develops, implements, and maintains operational policies and procedures. 3. Manages program communications; identifies outreach potential, and promotes philanthropic and collaborative support of the program. 4. Works closely with leadership, internal and external colleagues, and community residents to further develop and implement strategic plans. 5. Identifies, solicits, and cultivates community partnerships and collaborations to assist in the development and growth of the program. 6. Tracks all program activities and regularly informs leadership of progress on each initiative. Recommends structural or programmatic adjustments, changes or additions based on full knowledge of missions, goals, and objectives. Develops metrics to identify and measure the success of the program. 7. Assists in identifying and evaluating potential future funding sources, and contributes to the submission of grants and contracts supporting the program, including the annual submission and writing of all content areas and budgetary sections of grant applications. 8. Develops and manages the program's operating budget. 9. Manages the administrative infrastructure of the program. Manages human resources including staffing and hiring, supervision, performance development, counseling and discipline, if warranted. Oversees and manages information systems, facilities, and space needs. 10. May perform other duties as assigned. Required Education and Experience Bachelor's Degree in a related field and two years of related experience or an equivalent combination of education and experience.

Job Posting Date

10/07/2026

Job Category

Professional

Bargaining Unit

NON

Compensation Grade

Administration & Operations

Compensation Grade Profile

Associate (22)

Salary Range

$61,500.00 - $91,875.00

Benefits

A general description of the benefits to be offered with this Managerial & Professional position is available at:

Yale Benefits

Time Type

Full time

Duration Type

Staff

Work Model

Hybrid

Background Check Requirements

All candidates for employment will be subject to pre-employment background screening for this position, which may include motor vehicle, DOT certification, drug testing and credit checks based on the position description and job requirements. All offers are contingent upon the successful completion of the background check. For additional information on the background check requirements and process visit "Learn about background checks" under the Applicant Support Resources section of Careers on the It's Your Yale website.

Health Requirements

Certain positions have associated health requirements based on specific job responsibilities. These may include vaccinations, tests, or examinations, as required by law, regulation, or university policy.

Posting Disclaimer

Salary offers are determined by a candidate’s qualifications, experience, skills, and education in relation to the position requirements, along with the role’s grade profile and current internal and external market conditions.

The intent of this job description is to provide a representative summary of the essential functions that will be required of the position and should not be construed as a declaration of specific duties and responsibilities of the position. Employees will be assigned specific job-related duties through  their hiring department.

The University is committed to basing judgments concerning the admission, education, and employment of individuals upon their qualifications and abilities and seeks to attract to its faculty, staff, and student body qualified persons from a broad range of backgrounds and perspectives. In accordance with this policy and as delineated by federal and Connecticut law, Yale does not discriminate in admissions, educational programs, or employment against any individual on account of that individual’s sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, race, color, national or ethnic origin, religion, age, disability, status as a special disabled veteran, veteran of the Vietnam era or other covered veteran.

Inquiries concerning Yale's Policy Against Discrimination and Harassment may be referred to the Office of Institutional Equity and Accessibility (OIEA).

Note

Yale University is a tobacco-free campus.