Associate Director, Pitch Competitions, Venture Lab

Associate Director, Pitch Competitions, Venture Lab

The University of Pennsylvania, the largest private employer in Philadelphia, is a world-renowned leader in education, research, and innovation. This historic, Ivy League school consistently ranks among the top 10 universities in the annual U.S. News & World Report survey. Penn has 12 highly-regarded schools that provide opportunities for undergraduate, graduate and continuing education, all influenced by Penn's distinctive interdisciplinary approach to scholarship and learning. As an employer Penn has been ranked nationally on many occasions with the most recent award from Forbes who named Penn one of America's Best Large Employers in 2023.

Penn offers a unique working environment within the city of Philadelphia. The University is situated on a beautiful urban campus, with easy access to a range of educational, cultural, and recreational activities. With its historical significance and landmarks, lively cultural offerings, and wide variety of atmospheres, Philadelphia is the perfect place to call home for work and play.

The University offers a competitive benefits package that includes excellent healthcare and tuition benefits for employees and their families, generous retirement benefits, a wide variety of professional development opportunities, supportive work and family benefits, a wealth of health and wellness programs and resources, and much more.

The Associate Director provides leadership and management for Venture Lab's pitch competitions, including the annual Startup Challenge, pitch nights, and the B-School Disrupt event, and related awards for student founders at the University of Pennsylvania. This work will enable Venture Lab to deliver co-curricular learning opportunities in innovation and entrepreneurship to Penn students and connect them to Penn alumni leaders and experts for practical instruction, advice, mentoring, and networking support. The position is responsible for strategy, program design, and end-to-end execution of these competitions and related student founder programming, including alumni judge recruitment, budget and work plan management, and risk management. The role requires strong project management fundamentals across complex, multi-part initiatives; systems thinking; comfort analyzing and interpreting competition and program data to inform decisions; and the judgment to navigate time-sensitive, high-visibility events involving alumni and student stakeholders. The position reports to the Senior Director of Venture Lab and works closely with cross-functional internal teams and Penn alumni, students, and external partners.

Reporting to the Senior Director of Venture Lab, the Associate Director will:

• Lead the annual Startup Challenge, a multi-stage competition held throughout the academic year that provides Penn student contestants the opportunity to present their business ideas or startups and receive feedback from alumni judges. Develop strategy and manage execution, including the application process, analyzing competition data and tracking progress across multiple rounds to ensure reviews are completed on time, multiple rounds of judging, alumni judge recruitment, and coordinated delivery across cross-functional teams of the work plan, budget, communications plan, and risk management.
• Lead pitch nights throughout the academic year, providing Penn students with opportunities to develop effective communication skills, receive feedback, validate their business ideas, and gain exposure to the Penn entrepreneurship community. Responsibilities include strategy, recruitment and selection of student presenters, engagement of judges from the Venture Lab ecosystem, and partnerships with Penn organizations on themed events.
• Lead the relaunch and end-to-end execution of the B-School Disrupt event, partnering with peer institutions and internal functional teams to produce a cross-institutional showcase of student and alumni ventures and coordinate alumni judges. Collaborate with the Venture Lab founders team to manage the Summer at Venture Lab initiative.
• Prepare management reports and presentations for Venture Lab leadership. Design and maintain performance measurement frameworks, analyze program data to surface insights and recommend improvements, and support Salesforce data entry and management. Collaborate with Wharton External Affairs to produce donor stewardship reports and impact reports, incorporating feedback from Venture Lab and Wharton senior leadership.

The position requires frequent interaction with seasoned, accomplished alumni entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and other professionals engaged in entrepreneurship and innovation careers, including significant donors. The position is also responsible for cultivating an open rapport and a professional, supportive educational approach with undergraduate and graduate student entrepreneurs and innovators from all disciplines across the University of Pennsylvania. The position requires excellent interpersonal, written, and oral communication skills; strong collaboration and team building skills; a forward-thinking mindset; and demonstrated creativity, problem solving, critical analysis, initiative, judgment, decision-making skills, and bias toward action.

This position is based in Philadelphia. After successful completion of the introductory period, this position is hybrid eligible with some weeks requiring more in-person work as needed. While the schedule is generally business hours, the Associate Director must be able to work early mornings/evenings/weekends and to travel as needed.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's Degree and minimum 3-5 years of professional experience related to entrepreneurship, innovation, or program management, or an equivalent combination of education and experience is required. Master's degree and experience with co-curricular or experiential learning initiatives preferred.
• Demonstrated experience leading end-to-end program and/or event management across complex, multi-stakeholder initiatives, including strategy, program design, budget and work plan management, and risk management for time-sensitive, high-visibility events. Strong project management skills, including the ability to coordinate dependencies and handoffs across cross-functional teams, develop dashboards, frameworks, and systems to support program operations and evaluation, and establish priorities across multiple concurrent projects in a fast-paced environment.
• Demonstrated forward-thinking mindset, creativity, and systems thinking, with strong problem-solving and analytical skills, including the ability to analyze and interpret competition and program data in Excel or similar tools to evaluate program outcomes and inform decisions.
• Ability to translate ideas into structured plans and executable workstreams and move them forward with initiative and follow-through.
• Demonstrated ability to take ownership of projects and exercise sound judgment in navigating time-sensitive, high-visibility situations involving internal and external stakeholders. Intellectual curiosity and a collaborative working style, including proactive communication, the ability to ask clarifying questions, incorporate new information, and adapt thoughtfully as priorities and circumstances evolve, receptiveness to feedback, and accountability for deliverables and outcomes.
• Proficiency with Google Workspace and Microsoft Office required, including strong Excel skills for analyzing, manipulating, and structuring data to support reporting and decision-making; experience with Beautiful.ai, Monday.com, Typeform, ActiveCampaign, Qualtrics, and SurveyMonkey Apply preferred. Adobe Creative Suite experience a plus.

Job Location - City, State

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Department / School

Wharton School

Pay Range

$66,000.00 - $75,000.00 Annual Rate

Salary offers are made based on the candidate's qualifications, experience, skills, and education as they directly relate to the requirements of the position, and in alignment with salary ranges based on external market data for the job's level. Internal organization and peer data at Penn are also considered.

Equal Opportunity Statement

The University of Pennsylvania is an equal opportunity employer. Candidates are considered for employment without regard to race, color, sex, sexual orientation, religion, creed, national origin (including shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics), citizenship status, age, disability, veteran status or any class protected under applicable federal, state or local law.

Special Requirements Background checks may be required after a conditional job offer is made. Consideration of the background check will be tailored to the requirements of the job.

University Benefits

• Health, Life, and Flexible Spending Accounts : Penn offers comprehensive medical, prescription, behavioral health, dental, vision, and life insurance benefits to protect you and your family's health and welfare. You can also use flexible spending accounts to pay for eligible health care and dependent care expenses with pre-tax dollars.
• Tuition : Take advantage of Penn's exceptional tuition benefits. You, your spouse, and your dependent children can get tuition assistance here at Penn. Your dependent children are also eligible for tuition assistance at other institutions.
• Retirement: Penn offers generous retirement plans to help you save for your future. Penn's Basic, Matching, and Supplemental retirement plans allow you to save for retirement on a pre-tax or Roth basis. Choose from a wide variety of investment options through TIAA and Vanguard.
• Time Away from Work: Penn provides you with a substantial amount of time away from work during the course of the year. This allows you to relax, take vacations, attend to personal affairs, recover from illness or injury, spend time with familywhatever your personal needs may be.
• Long-Term Care Insurance: In partnership with Genworth Financial, Penn offers faculty and staff (and your eligible family members) long-term care insurance to help you cover some of the costs of long-term care services received at home, in the community or in a nursing facility. If you apply when you're newly hired, you won't have to provide proof of good health or be subject to underwriting requirements. Eligible family members must always provide proof of