Programme Manager (Tech Nation)

The Opportunity 

We are looking for a Programme Manager to manage Tech Nation’s Upscale and RIsing Stars initiatives.  

Upscale is a unique 4 month accelerator programme for Series A Scaleups across the UK. The programme is designed to support founders and their leadership teams to address challenges unique to some of the most high potential tech companies in the country. We aim to deliver valuable peer-to-peer learning, facilitating an open dialogue between experienced entrepreneurs and founders, with in-depth masterclass sessions run by seasoned coaches, who can help guide the founders on their way. You’ll be joining the ranks of household names such as Bloom & Wild, Seedrs, Depop. Pact Coffee, Birdie, The Modern Milkman, Gophr. We are relaunching applications for the Upscale programme that will be running September - December. 

Rising Stars is a competition for early stage startups, designed to showcase and support the best the country has to offer at a local, regional and national level, culminating with a grand finale at London Tech Week. The Rising stars competition takes place from January to June. 

As our Programme Manager, you will be responsible for planning and delivering these two programmes. You will identify and build a strong relevant network rallied around theseis initiatives, and engage strategic and commercial partners as well as alumni networks. The result will be delivering a calendar of events and education across our platform member companies with strong engagement.

This is an exciting opportunity to shape the relaunch of the Upscale and take Rising Stars to the next level and work day to day with some amazing startups and scaleups.

Responsibilities will include:

• Programme research, ideation, & curation:
  • Input and iterate the strategy for the Upscale programme and Rising Stars, working with the Programme leads and wider team, ensuring it is truly valuable to the community and the tech ecosystem. 
  • Keep yourself informed and at the forefront of all things happening in tech - be amongst the first to know, and develop ideas to iterate your programmes accordingly
  • Build relationships to identify and curate a package of prizes for our Rising stars winners and perks for our Upscalers.
• Programme delivery:
  • Ensure we deliver an incredible experience for all companies in the programmes, that is impact driven and scalable
  • Organise a series of growth and investor based events, educational sessions and introductions across a 4 month programme period that will appeal to the Upscale Community  ensuring the programme is delivering long term impact.
  • Work with the Upscale founders of a day to day basis to get their feedback and shape the support we can provide. 
  • Implement a clear judging process for both Rising Stars and Upscale with input from our programme leads. 
  • Organise pitch events around the country for our Rising Stars with our grand finale at London Tech Week 
  • Collaborate with our partnerships lead to maintain communication with partners of the programmes
• Community engagement: 
  • Scale the community by developing a pipeline of candidates for the Upscale programme and Rising Stars via direct outreach, our partners and mobilising others in the ancillary network(s)
  • Maintain a close relationship with Upscale and Rising Stars companies, with day to day community management and align our services to their needs and goals
  • Work with the programme leads and wider team to build and develop the alumni engagement strategy 
  • Network to continually source advisors and experts who can add to our Tech Nation offering
  • Be at the forefront of regional development, keeping in touch with regional stakeholders and identifying regional early stage talent. This role will involve travelling round the UK to collaborate with stakeholders.

This role is for you if: 

• You are able to think proactively - you make things happen and can come to the table with ideas
• You are able to stay organised to timelines and project manage multiple deliverables 
• You have entrepreneurial drive - this means you are self drive, naturally curious and excited about working with startups and scaleups 
• You are a people person and enjoy building relationships across different type of stakeholders and you enjoy bringing these people together to create impactful events or connections
• You  thrive working in teams and are passionate about our mission at Tech Nation
  

Requirements

• Some proven experience in events, VC, accelerators, community

• Strong relationship builder and communicator 
• Strong organisational and project management skills 
• Right to work in the UK 

This role requires working 4 days a week in the office.

This role will also require some travel around the UK.

Benefits

• 25 days annual leave, plus an extra day off for your birthday and additional leave between Christmas and New Years Day

• Option to work remotely anywhere in the world for 3 weeks/year
• Join an ambitious and passionate team with quarterly team activities, lunches 1x/week, office drinks, snacks and team trips
• Access to the Founders Family network of businesses and wider tech ecosystem
• Mental health, wellbeing, and learning and development stipends 
• Private healthcare package

About Founders Forum & Tech Nation

Founders Forum Group is an event-powered community and family of businesses supporting innovative entrepreneurs at every stage of their journeys. Founded in 2005, our invite-only forums unite founders, investors, corporate and government leaders to tackle era-defining questions in iconic locations across the globe.

Since 2019, Founders Forum has partnered with Informa Tech to celebrate the strength and diversity of UK tech through London Tech Week. 

Fuelled by the connections and ideas forged at our flagship events, Founders Forum businesses support the needs of today’s founders via networking, education, professional services, investment and charitable giving.

In 2023, Founders Forum acquired Tech Nation to further our mission to empower tech entrepreneurs and scale innovative startups.

Tech Nation is the leading platform for tech insights, connections, collaboration and talent, empowering ambitious founders and their teams with the access and knowledge they need from seed stage to success story.

Under the FFG umbrella, Tech Nation ha recently relaunched our first set of initiatives and reports as part of the new Tech Nation. We are now in the phase of entering our second iteration of some of our programmes and will also be relaunching Upscale - and this is where you come in!

Founders Forum Group’s Values

Community first

More than just fellow founders. Everything we offer is centred around the founders we work alongside. A goldmine of information, support and opportunity for our community. Our experience and connections allow us to offer unparalleled guidance, advice and events. We are committed to being there for the highs, the lows and everything in between. A trusted ally, driving positive action by championing the people behind great ideas and building real relationships.

Entrepreneurial to our core

Preserving our startup mentality is the key to being able to empathise with and fully support our growing community. Just like the founders we work with, entrepreneurship runs through our veins. We drive change and unearth new ways of thinking by reframing the way we approach an idea. We look at the possibilities of business through a new lens. Seeking out potential in every aspect of life, passionately pursuing new ideas.

Founding the future

We are forward thinkers. Always at the forefront of innovation. Our foot is firmly planted on the accelerator as we gain understanding of what tech is coming and new trends that will shape our lives. We have a hunger for knowledge and find joy in discovery, paving the way for a new way of thinking. This is the room of people you want and need to be in, to drive yourself and your business forward.

Excellence without ego

We don't take ourselves too seriously, but are proud of what we do. We work together, recognising the expertise of those around us, and understand the value in differing points of view. We are committed to excellence and always hold ourselves to the highest standard.