Do you enjoy building and maintaining strong innovation communities? Are you skilled in building strategic partnerships and you wish to do so within a growing company? If so, read on.

CIC Institute is looking for a personable and organized individual to manage and operate CIC Institute's innovation and startup related projects on a permanent contract. This is an exciting opportunity for someone with at least 3 years of experience in a related role.

CIC is a global leader in building and operating innovation communities. Founded in 1999 in Cambridge, MA, CIC is one of the first companies to offer flexible office space and coworking options, providing a platform for the world’s most impactful entrepreneurs to innovate better and faster. We have locations in Boston, Cambridge, Philadelphia, Providence, Rotterdam, St. Louis, Warsaw, and Tokyo, and are growing into other cities.

CIC Tokyo is our newest site and the first located in Asia. Opened in October 2020 in one of the business districts of Minato-ku, CIC Tokyo is a one-of-a-kind innovation-oriented center in Japan with a total area of ​​about 6,000 square meters on the 15th and 16th floors of the Toranomon Hills Business Tower. We provide a vast workspace with the capacity to house more than 250 companies. CIC Tokyo is centered on companies that aim to grow, and communities and services that are looking to accelerate their business growth and global expansion. Because of its influence in startup and innovation scenery, CIC Tokyo has frequent visits of VIPs such as Prime Minister Kishida, Governor Koike, and other business leaders in Japan. CIC Tokyo is now recognized as a prestigious center of new businesses and startups in Japan by business leaders in Japan.

Learn more about us here.

CIC Institute is a division of CIC that carries out startup and innovation related projects to support startups and develop innovation ecosystems, using both the knowledge and global network of CIC. The Institute currently does its work taking on events, community building, and consulting projects that support innovation, collaboration, and a stronger innovation ecosystem in key industries and geographies. 

One of your main responsibilities will be assisting our Director of CIC Institute through managing and carrying out innovation and startup related projects of CIC Institute.

In addition to the above you will:

• Plan seminars, meetups, pitch and other events related to activating CIC Institute's innovation related projects funded by either private companies or governmental bodies.

• Raise funds in order to properly operate the projects.

• Maintain and manage relationships with corporate members and governments who sponsor each project.

• Support startups in their growth and development through projects.

You are a professional with a complementary set of skills and style to represent CIC to prospective partnerships and support current clients at the highest levels of service. You are an articulate and ethical individual who has strong written and verbal communication, organizational skills, and time management skills.

More specifically, as our ideal candidate, you are:

• Incredibly detail-oriented and organized with solid time and project management skills.

• Excellent communicator and listener, both written and verbal, with anyone including colleagues, clients and partners.

• Personable, happy to help others, and naturally drawn to a very busy, ever-evolving environment.

• Comfortable working with everyone, treating everyone as an equal.

• Calm in a fast-paced environment and confident when dealing with uncertainty and last minute changes.

• Creative and excited about trying new things with regards to our marketing and community building.

• Enjoy researching up-to-date industry updates, cutting-edge technologies and startup ecosystem.

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience.

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English and Japanese.

• 3 years of either managing government funded projects, supporting startups, and/or starting up your own business.

• Preferred experience with professional partnership and stakeholder management, community development, and leading and organizing impactful events, or working at the innovation ecosystem landscape. 

• Preferred experience as a Project Manager in strategic consulting firms and holding proven skills of drafting business planning and proposals for clients.

• Preferred experience in leading and managing several projects at once.

• Permanent contract.

• Commuting / transportation allowance.

• Laptop as your working tool.

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

Please submit your application in English. Thank you!