Ecosystem Manager

A career with purpose

Our regional expansion is underway with our next workspace opening in Manchester in Autumn 2024 so we’re looking for a purpose-driven, passionate individual to join our Manchester team at this critical time to build relationships with northern based start-ups and SMEs, to understand their needs and to fill our workspace membership. You will be the driving force of nurturing relationships and fostering an excitement in the region to ensure start-ups want to join our workspace before we open our doors.

The Role 

The Ecosystem Manager will play an important role in our strategic growth plans as we build relationships with climate tech start-up/SMEs in the Northern regions. This person will manage the outreach of new membership acquisition to build and maintain a vibrant ecosystem of sustainable businesses. When our new unique space in the heart of Manchester opens, it will offer flexible memberships designed to inspire creativity and collaboration in a purpose-driven environment. Members will have access to, and will be supported by, the wider Sustainable Ventures team; with expertise in sustainability, venture capital and entrepreneurship. The role will report directly into our SV Director North and will involve regular engagement with other members of our senior leadership team. They will require a commercial mindset as well as an understanding of Sustainable Ventures in order to communicate the value of joining Sustainable Workspaces to potential new members. Initially the focus will be in bringing sustainable businesses into our workspace, and then shift to managing those relationships.

Key responsibilities:

• Work closely with the SV Director North to identify and outreach to early stage start-up/SMEs in the Northern Regions.
• Cultivate relationships with potential start-ups/SMEs, showcasing the unique value proposition of our workspace.
• Drive and maintain workspace occupancy through regular engagement with start-ups/SMEs, contributing to agreed team Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for the project.
• Generating and managing demand for all types of memberships of the workspace, and being able to maintain ongoing positive relationships in line with an evolving timeline.
• Creating and managing both organic and non-organic sales channels, such as brokers, the Sustainable Ventures network, and partnerships. 
• Overseeing the onboarding process for new members and coordinating with the Community Team accordingly.

• Serving as the primary point of contact for all member accounts and contract inquiries, promptly addressing any concerns and updating contracts in Office RnD (workplace platform) as needed.

Requirements

/ We expect you to have: 

• Passion for sustainability and environmental issues
• Experience in customer-facing role/s
• People-person who thrives on learning about new people and businesses
• Detail oriented, problem solver and highly adaptable
• Proven interpersonal and organisational skills - for managing multiple SMEs simultaneously, co-ordinating deliverables and taking a pragmatic approach when meeting deadlines and
• Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to connect and be empathetic with individuals at all levels

/ Desirable

• Keen interest in sustainability
• Excellent written, verbal and presentation communication skills
• Confident client management skills

Benefits

/ Additional Details

• Hours: Full-time, 40 hours per week
• Remuneration: £35-40k pa (depending on experience) + Benefits
• Holiday: 25 days per year (pro-rata) + Bank Holidays
• Wellness days: 1 day every month, for recharging, rest and recuperation 
• Based: Manchester (temporary co-working space in MI, before moving to SV Workspace in Autumn 2024)

/ Diversity 

Our people are the heart of Sustainable Ventures. We’re an equal opportunity employer, committed to recruiting a diverse workforce and creating an inclusive environment where everyone can be themselves at work. The climate crisis is a social and inclusion issue, and we especially encourage applications from individuals underrepresented in the climate space. We welcome applicants with diverse experiences.

About Sustainable Ventures

We are Europe’s largest ecosystem of climate tech startups. We’re focused on our mission to develop 1000 new businesses by 2025, and expand our operations across UK regions, beginning in Manchester in the Autumn of 2024.

Our impact on the planet’s climate and its natural resources is being felt more often and by more people than ever before. It is clear that significant changes must be made to achieve the targets set by the IPCC and reach Net Zero by 2050. This presents the world’s biggest challenge and it is something that SV has been addressing since 2011. We believe in the power of commercial innovation to address the twin challenges of climate change and resource scarcity.

Over the past 12 years we have expanded our services to cover: Investment with 45+ investments, Workspaces with 100+ member companies, and 500+ businesses supported to scale. These startups have created 5500 jobs and raised over £1bn of investment, a number of which have been acquired by corporates e.g. Ecar Club by Europcar, Zeigo by Schneider Electric, and Sennen by Octopus Energy.

We have also recently secured a strategic equity investment led by Barclays Sustainable Impact Capital. This investment will be applied to fund the Company’s growth plans, including the launch of regional locations across the UK and expanding the professional services provided to startups and scaleups. In addition, we’ll be working in partnership with Barclays, to leverage their experience as an advisor, bank and investor through developing a number of joint initiatives to accelerate the net zero innovation sector. 

/ Application Instructions

Applications will be considered on a rolling basis.

/ Recruitment process

• 30 min phone screening interview
• In-person interview with SV Director North & Head of People and Culture