Program Director, Alexa Techstars Scale Up Program

Job Description

Program Director, Alexa Techstars Scale Up Program
Seattle, WA
Job Summary
The Program Director will be responsible for building a curated team of mentors, investors, and business advisors, while working alongside high growth startups to incorporate Alexa Voice Services into their product while exploring partnership opportunities with Amazon’s business units. The Program Director will be responsible for recruiting high growth startups into our program, and delivering customized mentorship to help founders and teams become leaders in their industry. The ideal candidate should be able to make an immediate contribution to the companies and program with little to no learning curve or training.
The Program Director will work alongside our partner, Alexa Fund, Amazon's $200MM venture capital fund that invests in seed-stage to late-stage startup companies that are building on and around Alexa's broad range of capabilities. The Program Director has overall ownership of the program delivery, along with the success and satisfaction of our partner and program participants.
In This Role You Will...

• Source, recruit and support the investment decisions in all companies selected.
• Create and nurture a strong network of mentors and investors for the program.
• Work with the Corporate Partner, and in particular their senior leadership, to define the ongoing strategic direction within the program.
• Develop strong relationships with leaders across the organization and throughout their network.
• Provide direction and transparency for participating companies, ensuring they have clear visibility throughout the Corporate Partner’s organization.
• Support the integration of Alexa Voice Services into the company’s products and services.
• Identify partnership and POC opportunities, and develop a customized strategic roadmap for each company.
• Continuously improve program curriculum and content by working with companies and our Corporate Partner to identify areas of improvement.
• Share new best practices with the Techstars' team globally and the Corporate Partner as you identify areas for innovation and improvement.
• Represent Techstars in the local community, both actively and passively.
• Manage a talented team (your supporting cast) for the duration of the program.
• Comply with relevant workplace policies, security requirements and the culture of the Corporate Partner hosting the program.

Qualifications:

• 10+ years of professional experience working in fast-paced, rapid growth environments within technology, startups, entrepreneurship and venture capital.
• Experience as a start-up founder with experience in raising capital, and building a business is preferred.
• Experience developing relationships with key stakeholders at the leadership level, both externally and internally.
• Demonstrated success of developing POCs and pilots with larger enterprises, or as a key stakeholder overseeing pilots within a larger enterprise.
• Experience with Alexa and its voice services capabilities is preferred.
• Extremely effective communicator; ability to articulate concepts, messages and strategies both externally and internally.
• Deep understanding of venture capital investing, term sheets and investing trends.
• Fits the Techstars' culture (#givefirst-i-ness, Entrepreneurial Inclination, High Quality and Network Focused).
• Ability to remain in Seattle, WA during the duration of the program.
• Bachelor’s Degree from an accredited college/university.

About Alexa Fund
The Alexa Fund provides up to $200 million in venture capital funding to fuel voice technology innovation. We believe experiences designed around the human voice will fundamentally improve the way people use technology. Since introducing Alexa-enabled devices like the Amazon Echo, we’ve heard from developers, device-makers, and companies of all sizes that want to innovate with voice. Whether that’s creating new Alexa capabilities with the Alexa Skills Kit (ASK), building devices that use Alexa for new and novel voice experiences using the Alexa Voice Service (AVS), inventing core voice-enabling technology, or developing a product or service that can expand the boundaries of voice technology, we’d love to talk to you.
About Techstars
Techstars is the worldwide network that helps entrepreneurs succeed. Techstars founders and their teams connect with other entrepreneurs, experts, mentors, alumni, investors, community leaders, and corporate partners who will help their companies grow. Techstars operates three divisions: Techstars Startup Programs, Techstars Mentorship-Driven Accelerator Programs and Techstars Corporate Innovation Partnerships. Techstars Mentorship-Driven Accelerator Programs help founders do more faster and Techstars Startup Programs inspire, educate and connect entrepreneurs. Techstars Corporate Innovation Partnerships help brands supercharge growth by accelerating innovation and cultural transformation. Techstars accelerator portfolio includes more than 1,900 companies with a market cap of $25 Billion. www.techstars.com
Techstars is an affirmative action, equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, age, national origin, religion, physical or mental disabilities, marital status, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity nor any other basis prohibited by law.