Program Executive

Job Overview

The role of Program Executive is based in Visakhapatnam and involves managing and supporting the daily operations of the Venture Development Centre's various initiatives. These include pre-incubation, incubation, venture education, outreach programs, and activities aimed at building the startup ecosystem.

Key Responsibilities

• Coordinate and facilitate incubation programs, bootcamps, workshops, pitch days, mentoring sessions, demo days, and innovation challenges, ensuring smooth logistics and execution.
• Handle registrations, scheduling, venue management, communication, attendance tracking, feedback collection, resource allocation, and documentation related to VDC activities.
• Serve as a primary operational liaison for students, faculty, alumni, and early-stage startup teams, assisting them in accessing program resources, mentorship, makerspace facilities, and ongoing support.
• Monitor startup and participant progression, document milestones, submissions, mentor meetings, evaluation results, and outstanding follow-ups.
• Maintain comprehensive records including venture data, dashboards, reports, meeting minutes, impact statements, and other required documentation for internal and external use.
• Engage in outreach and scouting efforts across academic departments, student organizations, faculty, and alumni to attract innovators and startups to VDC programs.
• Coordinate with mentors, investors, corporate partners, government bodies, ecosystem collaborators, vendors, and university stakeholders.
• Promote community engagement through networking events, student activities, entrepreneurship awareness campaigns, and foster a culture of innovation.
• Propose and implement process improvements to optimize workflows, enhance participant experiences, and strengthen the innovation environment at the centre.

Required Skills and Experience

• Motivated and detail-focused individual with a strong sense of responsibility for assigned duties.
• Excellent interpersonal, written, and verbal communication skills suitable for interactions with students, faculty, founders, mentors, and partners.
• Ability to simultaneously manage multiple events and program tasks effectively in a fast-moving setting.
• Proactive problem solver eager to learn and contribute to a developing entrepreneurship ecosystem.
• Basic knowledge of startups, innovation processes, incubation stages, and supporting early-stage ventures.
• Comfortable with coordination tasks, follow-ups, record-keeping, reporting, and stakeholder communication.
• A cooperative team member capable of collaborating smoothly with VDC coaching and program staff.

Education and Eligibility

• Applicants should hold a bachelor's degree in Business, Management, Entrepreneurship, Engineering, Science, Commerce, or a related discipline.
• Prior experience (0 to 2 years) in program coordination, startup ecosystem support, incubation management, entrepreneurship development, event or project coordination is preferred but not mandatory.
• Experience or exposure to startups, incubators, accelerators, university entrepreneurship cells, or innovation programs is an advantage.
• Competence in Microsoft Office or Google Workspace, including basic data handling, presentations, reporting, and project management tools, is expected.
• Experience in event planning, stakeholder management, documentation, social media assistance, or outreach will be beneficial.
• Fresh graduates with strong internship experience, leadership skills, startup involvement, or active participation in entrepreneurship ecosystems will also be considered.