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About The Position
The Program Lead is responsible for the strategic planning, execution, and continuous improvement of the capacity building, technical assistance, and investment readiness components across assigned Parallel18’s areas. This role ensures that participating startups receive high-quality, data-driven support aligned with each program’s stage and goals. The Program Lead will lead the design and implementation of educational frameworks, technical assistance resources, investment readiness pathways, and founder engagement processes, maintaining program excellence and impact.
This position supervises Startup Specialists, fostering team development and ensuring cohesive execution across all program initiatives. The Program Lead will specifically prioritize leading our growth accelerator program, Xpand, as its core duties, ensuring excellence in execution and compliance with the required objectives to support growth stage founders in our ecosystem. As a core member of Parallel18’s leadership team, the Program Lead contributes to the organization’s broader mission of empowering entrepreneurs and strengthening Puerto Rico’s innovation ecosystem.
Requirements
- Proven experience (5+ years) in program management, entrepreneurship support, innovation, or economic development.
- Demonstrated ability to design and execute complex educational or technical assistance programs.
- Strong leadership and team management skills, with experience supervising direct reports.
- Excellent project management and organizational abilities, with the capacity to coordinate multiple initiatives simultaneously.
- Strong communication and facilitation skills in both English and Spanish.
- Analytical mindset with experience tracking KPIs, program performance, and impact metrics.
- Strong financial and analytical mindset; comfortable with financial models, cap table mechanics, funding stage analysis, and investment KPI dashboards.
- Proficiency in Google Workspace, CRM systems (e.g., HubSpot, Airtable), and reporting tools (e.g., Data Studio, Notion).
- Passion for entrepreneurship, innovation, and Puerto Rico’s economic development, with a demonstrated interest in venture capital, startup ecosystems, and early-stage investing.
- Bachelor’s degree required, preferably in Business Administration, Economics, STEM, Public Policy, or a related field.
- Minimum of 3–5 years of professional experience in program management, entrepreneurship support, economic development, innovation ecosystems, or business strategy.
- Experience leading teams or managing direct reports, with a demonstrated ability to delegate, coordinate, and coach team members effectively.
- Direct experience working with or supporting startups, small and growing businesses, or founders in a fast-paced environment.
Nice To Haves
- A master’s degree in Business, Public Administration, Innovation, STEM or related fields is desired.
- Genuine interest in venture capital, startup investing, or early-stage company building is strongly preferred.
- Familiarity with capital raising processes, startup funding stages, and investor engagement strategies is strongly preferred.
- Experience working in or alongside nonprofit organizations, public-sector initiatives, or programs funded by grants or sponsorships is desirable.
- Demonstrated success in managing cross-sector relationships (e.g., with corporate partners, investors, academic institutions, or government entities).
Responsibilities
- Design, implement, and continuously improve the capacity building and technical assistance structure for assigned program or area.
- Align curriculum, workshops, mentorship, and advisory services with the developmental stage and investment trajectory of each startup cohort.
- Develop frameworks and tools to measure program effectiveness, learning outcomes, and founder satisfaction.
- Coordinate with internal teams to ensure consistency and integration across programs, maintaining the parallel18 quality standard.
- Supervise, coach, and evaluate Startup Specialists, ensuring clear role definition, high performance, and professional growth.
- Foster a culture of collaboration, accountability, and continuous improvement within the team.
- Support Startup Specialists in providing tailored guidance and tracking founder progress throughout the program cycle.
- Oversee the design and delivery of workshops, mentorship sessions, and technical assistance activities.
- Identify startup needs and coordinate targeted support resources (e.g., expert advisors, office hours, specialized clinics).
- Identify and support founders on a path toward external financing, coordinating with the Ventures team to ensure investment-readiness milestones are embedded in the program experience.
- Provide strategic advice to founders as needed, leveraging internal expertise and external networks.
- Work closely with the Operations, Business Development, Ventures, and Marketing & Communications teams to ensure program visibility, alignment, and consistency.
- Coordinate with other Managers to align investment readiness activities with cohort milestones, ensuring investment-track KPIs are embedded into the broader program lifecycle.
- Support other programs operations, including P18 and BioLeap when necessary, serving as a helping hand and at times lead the operations as part of the whole Parallel18 team.
- Support relationship-building with mentors, partners, and investors to enhance the technical and strategic value of the programs.
- Represent Parallel18 at relevant events, panels, and ecosystem activities locally and internationally.
- Develop and maintain performance metrics and dashboards for program assessment.
- Support grant reporting and data collection efforts, ensuring accurate documentation of outcomes and impact.
- Identify opportunities for program improvement and contribute to strategic planning based on data insights.
- Support and execute any additional tasks as assigned by the Executive Director and/or Associate Director.