Director, Venture Café Berlin - DE - CIC

Are you a natural leader with a strong network, driven to tackle your city's biggest challenges and connect diverse groups to make things happen? If so, you belong at Venture Café!

At Venture Café, we aim to create a global community of innovators with equal access to resources and opportunities, addressing our most pressing challenges. Ready to make an impact with us?

Venture Café Global Institute (VCGI) began in 2009 within the Cambridge Innovation Center (CIC) in Massachusetts, aiming to connect people, ideas, and resources globally. Today, it has grown into a worldwide movement, facilitating over 660,000 connections among innovators, creatives, and leaders across cities like Boston, St. Louis, Rotterdam, and Tokyo. VCGI's mission is to drive global change by building a community of communities focused on solving humankind’s biggest challenges.

Venture Café Berlin will launch in Q4 2024 alongside strategic partner CIC. Venture Café Berlin partners with companies and organizations that are evolving business, education, technology, social justice, science and the arts within Berlin and beyond. Our flagship Thursday Gathering convenes hundreds of creative, resourceful people who are just as invested in improving life on this planet as you are. 

Reporting to the CIC Berlin General Manager, you will build and lead the Venture Café Berlin team, launching and directing programming for the Thursday Gathering and other ecosystem-building activities. Your goal is to ensure Venture Café programming connects local innovators to the national and international entrepreneurship community.

Your role would be to execute weekly Venture Café Thursday Gatherings including the following:

• Collaborating closely with VCGI and CIC to develop the launch strategy for Venture Café Berlin and leading the execution of the launch plan.

• Working closely with the CIC Berlin General Manager to ensure success and align initiatives where appropriate.

• Scoping and developing a yearly programming strategy to inspire and connect the local innovation community.

• Scoping and securing foundational financial partners for Venture Café Berlin and building a pipeline for funding opportunities.

• Identifying and partnering with local ecosystem leaders as an advocate and spokesperson to build diverse and inclusive programs.

• Developing innovative program formats for delivering content and creating connection opportunities to maximize engagement.

• Leading and overseeing strategic planning, impact measurement and program budget for CIC Connect market access and other innovation programs in Berlin.

• Attracting funding for programs and aligning them within the Thursday Gathering framework.

• Hiring, leading, and coaching your direct reports towards success.

• Continuously reviewing and implementing improvements/changes to ensure the ongoing success and reputation of Venture Café and CIC Berlin.

• Collaborating with the Venture Café global network and CIC Connect global program to connect the Berlin community to global opportunities.

• Identifying and mitigating risks to the effective operation of the Thursday Gathering.

• Collaborating with the CIC Berlin team to ensure effective programming and cross-promotion opportunities.

You understand your city’s challenges and see them as opportunities, combining a fascination with trends and a humanistic perspective. Passionate about mission-driven work, you'll lead Venture Café Berlin by nurturing relationships, leading teams, and thriving in ambiguity. Your skills include leading programs, matchmaking, innovating, connecting with the community, and fostering collaboration. You are comfortable with public speaking, have excellent communication skills, and excel at connecting across business, academia, government, and civil society. You bring a global outlook with local roots and a strong community commitment. Additionally, you have:

• Knowledge of Berlin’s  start-up community, key influencers, networks and organizations.

• Excellent organizational, project, and task management skills.

• Familiarity with digital media channels. An ability to leverage them as part of your work.

• Comfort in Google Suite, WordPress, Salesforce, email campaign software (e.g. MailChimp), and project management software.

• Availability to work at the weekly Venture Café Thursday Gathering from 3-8pm.

• Fluency in English and German.

• Ability to legally work in Germany. We are unable to sponsor visas for this role at this time.

• Competitive salary, commensurate with experience.

• Permanent contract.

• Commuting / Transportation allowance.

• Gym card.

• Allocated budget for training (customized to specific requirements of the role and organization's objectives).

•  Opportunities for training and development led by VCGI.

•  Travel to Venture Café locations across the globe.

Please submit your application in English. Thank you!